New Slab City Book + Collectors edition! Over a decade spent working on this project!!!

Photographing some of the oldest living organisms on the face of the Earth!!! www.ianruhter.com

New Slab City book! Available!!

Working on my book The Laketo think each page was handcrafted from the Wet Plate collodion process.

The process of making my latest book,“ The Lake” I look back and remember all the fun times I had!

Making a pinhole camera out of discarded household items. Really fun project!!

Making a film camera from a matchbox and common household items! This was such a fun project!!

Your scars give you character which are the things that make you beautiful!

Making wet plates in the Alabama Hills. What an adventure!!

Making wet plates at the foot of Mount Whitney in the Alabama Hills!! I love this process!!

Some days don’t go exactly how you planned it. But if you can get through it, it can be so rewarding

Original work plate drop New York City Times Square August 22, 2026!!

This is one of the most shocking photographs I’ve ever made. Slab City - new book!

Been working on the Slab City project for over a decade with the Wet Plate collodion process!

From Slab City book project I had the opportunity to make a few 8 x 10“ Ambrotypes of DNA.

Photographing with an 1850s process in Slab City!

They say, Slab cities lawless in some ways I think of it as a modern day Wild West frontier town.

Continuing on with the Slab City book project. The best part is meeting cool people along the way

I’m really excited to see who ends up with this plate.

It was an honor to make this photo of Casey from the Ponderosa and Slab City! #slabcity #wetplate

Photographing Tomahawk in Slab City with the Wet Plate collodion process!

This project has been 14 years in the making!! I’m excited that it’s finally complete! #slabcity

The Slab City project stands out as one of my favorite bodies at work!!

It’s hard to imagine I’ve worked on this project for 14 years and it’s finally complete!! #slabcity

14 years in the making! I can’t believe it’s almost here! New Slab City book pre-orders available!

Making photographs in nature it’s more of an intimate experience to me!

Just wondering if we should make a book with all the photos everyone made? Thoughts?

Then all of a sudden it seems like the entire universe is conspiring to help you! #wetplate

Wishing that it doesn’t work out and then be in pleasantly surprised by the end results!

Trying to finding the perfect photo, we learned to appreciate the journey more than the photograph

Slowly, moving forward, one plate at a time on my second book project!

There’s something to be said about never giving up. And when it works, it’s truly amazing!#wetplate

The beauty and Magic of the Wet Plate collodion process!!

I’ve been following the water that comes down into Lake Tahoe from desolation wilderness.

I’m wondering if it’s possible to be lost if you’re not actually looking for something in particular

This feels more like magic than photography to me. Made from an 1860s recipe. #diy

Highly experimental analog photography experiment.

I’d love the process of making a photograph more than the actual photograph itself!!

Photography is such a powerful medium!!

I love it when everything comes together!! #wetplate

Handmade film, tailgate dark room at my favorite lake!!

I made three major mistakes and somehow everything worked out!!

Every time I work with this process, I think how did they figure this out? #photography #handmade

Every time this works, it amazes me ! Working with a 19 century photographic process. #wetplate

Turning a piece of trash into a camera and making a picture with it!

From the minute, I saw it it reminded me of my grandparents who were married for 60 years.

 I’ve driven past this shot for 10 years & one day I decided to stop. Here’s what I found

The first time I saw this, I fell so deeply in love with the Wet Plate Collodion process!!

It’s still amazes me that I’m able to make film from raw materials. Then somehow an image appears!!

The imperfections and flaws are what makes, art, life and us beautiful! #filmphotography