Obscura
An amazing portrait
While working with wet plate collodion Ruhter came up with an idea to show the world the beauty of these objects in a size that was deemed impossible. This led him and the Silver & Light Team to a forgotten town on the edge of the Salton Sea called Bombay Beach, located in California’s Imperial Valley. The idea was to create a camera out of an abandoned house. The structure would serve as the framework for the camera. Instead of focusing on the decay from the outside, this house camera allowed a view from the inside into someone’s dream. Once the giant lens was placed on the front of the house, images of Ted, a 100 year old resident who recently found himself homeless, were projected in, breathing new life into this abandoned structure and once again making it a home. During this brief moment in time when Ted’s photograph was captured, he was present in both places. In reality, he was homeless in the outside world.
- Year: 2018
- Country: United States of America
- Genre: Documentary
- Studio: Silver & Light Films
- Keyword: photography, camera, abandoned house, camera obscura, wet plate art, gary oldman, ian ruhter, obscura, ian beaudoux, will eichelberger
- Director: Lauren Vance
- Cast: Gary Oldman, Ian Ruhter, Will Eichelberger, Ross Whitaker, Kevin Mueller, Damien Cravic
