Who I amMy love for photography developed from when I was a child, from looking at family books, pictures in newspapers, or images that captured my attention at any moment in time which transcended me to a different world or moment. I became serious with photography when my daughter was born, I wanted to capture each moment of her growth which was 21 years ago. My love for capturing images has grown more and more serious. In 2004, I made this passion of photography into a business, giving up film and immersing fully into the world of digital photography. For some reason, capturing an image so easily and quickly with a digital camera slowly diminished my passion for photography. After a couple years of struggle, I decided to come back to old school photography - FILM! But now an even older school, as I explored the world of tintype/ambrotype photography.
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With digital photography, you snap the image, look at it, decide to keep it, or take another one, ...or a bunch of new ones, all in a few quick seconds! With tintype and ambrotype, there is a deliberate process of artistry infused with craftsmanship. The three distinct phases of film preparation, setting up the camera and releasing the shutter, and developing the exposed image take determined effort and focus. There are a series of decisions that need to be made: what kind of film would best present this moment, is it a color image or black and white image, and how do I want to present this image in front of viewers. I use a non-traditional darkroom print to present my film work. Tintype and ambrotype produce different styless, with each image captured onto it's own piece of tin or a pane of glass. Each plate is prepared right before the image is taken and processed right after, though the entire process takes quite a bit of time and effort.
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Jenny Ruley | What I believe |