SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Internationally acclaimed photographer Ian Ruhter will return to his roots this fall with The Lake, a major exhibition of contemporary ambrotypes and tintypes at Lake Tahoe Community College’s Haldan Gallery, on view October 9 through December 11, 2025. The public is invited to an opening reception with the artist on Thursday, October 9, from 5–8 p.m.

In many ways, Ruhter’s photographic journey began at Lake Tahoe. Diagnosed with dyslexia as a child, he discovered his artistic voice as a young adult in a photography class at LTCC. Using a pinhole camera made from an oatmeal container, Ruhter recognized a mirrored version of his own worldview: inverted, reversed, but profoundly meaningful.

“At 26, I finally felt like I was able to speak,” Ruhter recalls.

That discovery set him on a path to international recognition. When the photography world shifted toward digital, Ruhter resisted, searching instead for authenticity in historic processes.

His rediscovery of wet collodion photography, a mid-19th-century method using glass and metal plates, led to groundbreaking work on an unprecedented scale. Transforming a box truck into the world’s largest wet plate camera, Ruhter created monumental ambrotypes and tintypes, some measuring 96 by 66 inches, establishing him as a singular figure in contemporary photography.

Despite exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, and Paris, Ruhter long envisioned showing these works where they originated—at the lake itself. The Lake brings this dream full circle, presenting 68 images, including two of the largest wet collodion plates ever made, alongside an exploration of his process.

“This exhibition is more than a homecoming,” said Ruhter. “It’s about transformation, about finding your voice, and about returning to the place where it all began. For me, the treasure has always been here at the lake.”

EXHIBITION DETAILS
Title: The Lake
Artist: Ian Ruhter
Dates: October 9–December 11, 2025
Opening Reception: Thursday, October 9, 5–8 p.m.
Location: Haldan Gallery, Lake Tahoe Community College, One College Drive, South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

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