The unique perspective of photographer Peter Ruprecht

We’re here with photographer and mover-and-shaker, Peter Ruprecht. Welcome Peter!

ephotos: You spend a lot of time on the road, where are you from and where is your business based?

PR: That has always been a slightly complicated question for me to answer. I am originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. When I was 4 our family moved to the US. Since then we travelled back and forth between the US and Argentina. For the past several years I have been based out of New York City, but as I like to say, my stuff resides here. I have been on the road for the past several years, living in Europe, South America, and India. But I would have to say that all of my income comes from New York, so technically, my business is a New York based business.

ephotos: Name some of the places you’ve traveled where you feel like you made a connection, visually, either with the culture, the architecture, or the landscape.

PR: India for sure! The place IS as magical as they say, just not in the way you might expect. For me the connection to the place came from all of the hidden parts of life there, that are not apparent until you have spent significant amounts of time there. I went 2 times and spent almost 8 months combined, so I was able to peel back the layers that tourists are exposed to. My most memorable moment came in Varanasi. I befriended a Brahmin named Bablu and spent several days walking the city with him taking me to places that most westerners never see. One of these places is across the Ganges River on the other bank. You walk across blazingly hot sand for several kilometers until you find a small footpath. When you follow that path you arrive at a village that is visually amazing and again, few westerners see or let alone have the opportunity to photograph.

Morocco is also quite spectacular. I travelled there in 2000 with my girlfriend at the time. This was pre-MTV road rules going to morocco, so it was a bit less overrun with tourists looking for postcards, hash and “chachke”. Fes was my favorite city. Life in the medina there continues as it was maybe 500 years ago. They say it’s the largest urban car free zone in the world. The architecture was amazing, from the “gates” to the mosques. I also stayed quite a bit of time in Morocco, so we really got to know some of the locals and went to their houses for dinner and tea.

There are many places I have been to that I could rattle off; some in the US like (Lake Powell Arizona, Death Valley, Crater Lake, the Bad Lands, Arches, Escalante) and some outside the US (Montanitas in Ecuador, Nilo in Colombia, Valletta in Malta, and Warsaw, Poland) that are simply magical but I believe the common thread that makes them special, is going for enough time to truly experience the place. Make friends, and try and avoid the touristy programs.

ephotos: When did you realize your calling as a photographer?

PR: I remember playing with cameras as a child, since my mother was a photographer, but it really wasn’t until my trip to India in 2001, that I picked up a camera in an effort to document the trip. I returned from India with many photographs…well actually snapshots…Normally I like most people can tolerate maybe 2 minutes of seeing others vacation photos. We all normally tolerate the viewing sessions out of courtesy more than an actual desire to see the 1000 image of the Taj Mahal with one our friends standing in front of it.

However when I began to torture my friends with my vacation photos, I would reach the end of the pile and look up expecting to see eyes glazed over with boredom, but to my surprise most of my friends would ask if I had any more photos, and if they could have some copies. Then a hotel in Punta Del Este Uruguay asked me for some of my photographs to put into their lobby.

So, I guess you would say that I played with cameras as a child, but it was not until 2000 that I picked up my first camera as an adult.

ephotos: Who are some of the photographers that have influenced your photography?

PR: I never studied photography, so I don’t come with the classical photographer knowledge of others work that has been in my mind and influencing the way I shoot. With that said there are some photographers that I think are absolute geniuses. Robert Whitman has one of the most amazing eyes and sensibilities I have ever seen. He captures the moments in-between the cliché moments better than anyone I can think of. I think my style is sometimes similar to his (But I have many years to go before I’ll be that accomplished), however we are currently working on a project together. A New York Architecture Firm, Studios GO is using our imagery to dress the inside of a new nightclub opening up.

I have always liked Erwin Olaf and Brent Stirton as well. I guess I could not really talk about photographer influences without mentioning Peter Beard as well. He is just so iconic now that it is hard to decipher where his photography ends and his celebrity mystique kicks in, but regardless, I think he is one of the modern day masters.

ephotos: You have a gallery at your site, http://ruprechtstudios.com , called “Favorite Photographs”. What are some of the elements in these photos that make them special?

PR: Mainly composition. I don’t really light much artificially. Most of My photography is natural light, so it’s really the composition that differentiates them from the ones that don’t make the cut.

And it has to be something that moves me. Even if the photo bores me terribly,

ephotos: What equipment do you use (cameras, format, etc.)?

PR: Canon 1DS is my main camera. It’s a full frame digital camera.
My back up to that is a canon 20D. I also use a canon G9 when I don’t want to carry an SLR around. And finally my new baby is the Diana F+

ephotos: We saw your lomography gallery, what moved you to pick up a Diana F+?

PR: The truth is that a friend was going to the new lomo store to pick up a HOLGA. I decided to accompany her and in my usual fashion I left a photography store with new toys.

I had been looking for a new creative outlet to bring into my photography, and the Diana turned out to be just what I needed. Before the new projects that I am doing with the Diana, most people would say that my photography was very much in the photo documentary genre.

I have never liked being pigeon-holed, and I have a short attention span, so new mediums, new outlets, new projects always interest me.

The Diana f+ has been the most liberating camera. It is a return to film and craftsmanship to help with my discipline while also liberating me from the traditional “photograph” as a medium. I have recently started a photography “business” meaning a photography outfit with another very talented photographer and retoucher. He has always chided me for taking photographs in a “digital manner”, meaning taking lots of them to capture a single image. The return to film has helped discipline me in reducing the number of shots I take to capture my final image.

I have been having a lot of fun taking images with it that are analog composites. I have put a 35 mm back on the Diana, and Since the Diana is by nature a camera for 120 film, it exposes over a larger area than the traditional 35. I capture images over the whole negative including the sprocket holes. I also wind the camera at random intervals advancing the film anywhere from 1/5 of a frame to a whole frame. This produces one long composite photograph along the length of the negative, which might span 5 traditional 35mm photos. I then process the film and cut the negatives myself (quite cathartic…I recommend this to others). In the cutting process I must chose the crops because the negative roll is one continuous photograph. I then scan the negatives and get the final digital file of the extended negatives. This has produced effects that look like Photoshop composites but are actually true photographic images that are unaltered. The negatives match the images completely. I am not sure that this is a completely novel concept, but it is not that popular at the moment. So this caught the eye of some hotel developers and they are going to start using these images for the interiors of their clubs and hotels.
So the Diana has been a lucrative $200 investment.

ephotos: Do you work with any stock photo agencies? If so, do you feel like the way your work is being handled?

PR: Not yet, but I would love to. I have thousands of images across hundreds of genres.

ephotos: What do you think will be the next trend in photography?

PR: GRIT!!! All trends swing like a pendulum between the extremes. We are currently in a time where everything is OVER PRODUCED. I hope and believe that the trends in CGI and overproduced beauty and fashion photography will swing back to something more realistic. Meaning photographs will go back to looking more like photographs than something out of the PIXAR labs.

ephotos: What is your next photography project?
I am shooting a series of Polaroids for a show coming up at Heist gallery.

PR: Is there a person or a place that you would love to shoot?
My newest interest has become shooting interesting people in interesting settings, basically, photo-documentary essays of interesting settings. I would very much like to shoot a day in the life of Mickey Rourke.

ephotos: Tell us a little bit about your work with Mark Ecko and your current position with WDDG (World Domination Design Group).

PR: I have extensive background in digital strategy development. This is essentially a blend of creative direction and business strategy development for the digital space.

It was this experience that got me “tapped” as the Vice President of Interactive and New Media for Marc Ecko. Before I got there, they were a billion dollar fashion and lifestyle company that had no digital presence. While there I developed their complete digital footprint, from www.marcecko.com (an award winning website), to their digital campaigns such as hudgens.ecko.com and eckomfg.com. The interactive space is one that is so dynamic and ever changing that it is as exciting as it is difficult to stay ahead of the curve within it. Working in this space forces me to stay abreast of new technological applications of imagery and consumer messaging. But most importantly it helps me remain focused on how to best use them to generate ROI for companies and individuals. I love art for the sake of art, but I also have a strong “love for” and sense of how to utilize art as business. I also happened to double up as Marc’s personal photographer.

After completing the “projects” for Ecko, I moved to WDDG (one of the best interactive firms in the world) to head up their digital strategy division. This position allows me to blend visual aesthetics and creative direction with delivering ROI while building out online campaigns for clients.

ephotos: We have professional and amateur photographers that read our interviews. In a sentence or two, what advice would you give someone that is just starting out?

PR: First read all you can right here on your site…ephotos is an amazing resource!!! I wish I would have known about you when I first started. But then…SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT and self-promote. If you love the art of photography, then shooting will not be a burden, then get the word out! Build a site for your portfolio. These days it is so easy to build a site to show your work off! I use a platform called Squarespace. It is amazing…you don’t need to know anything about HTML to build an amazing portfolio site.

I know it sounds cliché, but I absolutely believe in it, and it is how I have become successful within my own niche in the field. I took pictures simply for my own purposes, putting them on the web…then one day after showing them to enough people, I got my break.

ephotos: What do you think about ephotos.com ?

PR: Aside from being extremely honored that your company has chosen to interview me??? It’s amazing…you have one of the better resources out there for all photographers, amateur or professional. It’s addictive…
I have spent way many hours surfing it. There aren’t many sites out there that provide such a well-curated collection of photography and double up as an informational resource with in-depth interviews.

It hits my sensibilities right in the sweet spot…collections of amazing photographs to enjoy and use for inspiration and the stories these photographers told about getting to where they are.

ephotos: Is there anything else you would like to tell us about yourself and your work?

PR: I think I have probably used enough words already…the only ones really left to say are: Thank you ephotos…. and now I'll let the images do the rest of the talking.

ephotos: It was our pleasure, Peter! We are going to keep an eye on you and your work…Remember to keep the focus!



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