I had the great fortune to do the KarmaTube write-up of Ian Ruhter’s lovely short film, Silver & Light, a couple weeks ago.  It shows Ian in transition from photographer to “alchemist” (as he styles himself), having adapted nineteenth century wet-plate colodian technique to large-format twenty-first century image-making.  The combination of technological innovation and technological anachronism is awesome, the images are breathtaking, watching Ian find his authentic artistic voice is heartwarming, and his bet-the-farm commitment to his life’s passion is inspiring.  If you haven’t already seen Silver & Light on KarmaTube, you should.
 
But such a short film, touching on so many compelling themes, invariably begs more questions than it answers.
 
Ian’s blog chronicles his photographic journey through urban and rural North America, telling the stories of the places and the people who inhabit them; but it too is light on meta-narrative.

So, as luck would have it... and doesn’t luck always seem to have it?  I’m no longer astonished by this, simply delighted and grateful.  But I digress...
 


The punch line: last Friday Ian was the speaker at the April installment of the Creative Mornings Vancouver breakfast lecture series, which I attend regularly.  He spoke in a more deeply revealing way about his journey – as a photographer, as a storyteller, as a person.  If you found Silver & Light tantalizing, I highly recommend watching Ian’s short talk, which is now up on the Creative Mornings Vancouver’s vimeo page.
 
Because luck has it.