This fall, Ian Ruhter will showcase his captivating black-and-white photographs of Lake Tahoe at Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC), the very place his creative journey first began.
Ruhter’s work has been exhibited in cultural capitals like Paris, New York, and Los Angeles. But for him, this show is different.
“These works are being seen all over the world, but not in the place where they were created,” Ruhter said. “This community helped me so much. I wanted to show it here. I just could never figure out how to bring it home, until now.”
Diagnosed with dyslexia as a child, Ruhter once struggled in traditional academic settings. Everything changed when he enrolled in a photography class at LTCC.
“I wasn’t going to ever be able to go to a Brooks Institute or a major institution,” Ruhter said. “But because there was access to the community college, and I could go there and just try it out. That one class changed the entire trajectory of my life.”
The images in The Lake were created using wet plate collodion, a 19th-century photographic process known for its depth and clarity. To accommodate this antique technique, Ruhter built a custom camera inside a truck, enabling him to produce images up to eight feet wide.
Over more than a decade, Ruhter captured dozens of images of Lake Tahoe, turning the landscape into timeless visual stories.
In a statement, Lake Tahoe Community College reflected on the powerful impact of Ruhter’s return:
“To witness a student take a class, find their spark, and progress to fully immerse themselves in that vocation — especially to Ian’s level — is the dream. Ian Ruhter’s artwork represents the full-circle epitome of our goals. It is deeply meaningful to have him return to Tahoe to share his accomplishments with both LTCC and our community.”
Exhibit details
The Lake: Photographs by Ian Ruhter
Haldan Art Gallery, Lake Tahoe Community College
October 9 – December 11, 2025
Opening reception: October 9, 5-8 p.m.
Free and open to the public
