John Jackson/ Forum

Photo: John Jackson / Ian Ruhter

Location: Northern Escape Heli, British Columbia, Canada

I all ways laugh when i look at it

While looking through my archives I came across this photo. It brought back some good memories. It was one of the first photos I shot when I arrived in LA 5 years ago. The story behind this one is, I was at this party and met someone that was going to be a big influence in my life. I had no idea at the time that Hunter would become on of my best friends. We got to talking, and I told him I moved to LA to further my photography career, and he said we should get together. In my head I thought ya right this guy is b.s.-ing me. I got a call from him two days later he said we should shoot.  I asked "What, when, and were?" and he replied, "now". So I grabbed my camera and lights I went down to this hamburger place on Santa Monica blvd in Hollywood. On the way I realized I had no idea what I was shooting. When I arrived no one was there I called him and asked were are you? I'm across the street working on a movie. I was about to get my first lesson about living in LA: you have to be able to multi task. He came over on his lunch brake with a beautiful blond. We talked for a few minutes about how we should  shoot her and put her up on the counter. Right then the owner came out and told us we can't be here with out a permit. Hunter went and talked with him came back with some fries. He said everything was all good. I have no idea what he said but I was starting to realize he was a genius. In the mean time a man had come up and ordered some food. We looked over I picked up my camera and shot a photo. This one photo symbolizes LA to me in so many ways. I all ways laugh when I look at it.

How I got my start in photography.

This is an excerpt from the TransWorld Snowboarding 2008 Photo Annual Issue. This is how it all started.

"Back in his days as a pro rider, the early 90's, Ian Ruhter was hella new-school. According to tight bro and former TransWorld Editor Nathan Yant, "Ian rode switch better than some pros of that time rode regular. he could adapt to any sort of terrain - hitting rails, partying off of cliffs, or tearing up park jumps. Best of all, Ruht was his own man, always speaking his mind no matter if it meant getting fired from a sponsor, or getting in a fight - no surprise since he grew up in the shadow of Tahoe legends Shaun Palmer and Jimmy Halopoff." At that time, a big part of pro snowboarding was "just being a drunk idiot" - which Ian had dialed. On a filming trip headed to Montana, he spent a night partying with Devun Walsh and the Whiskey crew, earning his moniker the "Green Cowboy." After buying some cowboy clothes to wear in Montana, he topped off his new look with Whiskey's Boozy the Clown rainbow wig, and got loose. In a blacked-out, late night video extra from the cult-classic Shorty's video, SNOW, Ian proclaimed, "Ya'll never seen the Green Cowboy..."

During that fast and dirty era in shred history, Ruht was highly visible in Blunt magazine. He got booted off Lamar and then followed it up by calling out Mike Ranquet in his Blunt interview, which ended in a fistfight in the Mt. Baker base lodge. An older, wiser Ruht explains, "All this shit was just a stepping stone to take me to what I was supposed to be doing - photography. I was washed up by 25 and was shooting photos by 26 - pretty sad." Tahoe shred photographer Aaron Sedway sold Ian his first camera and the spark was lit. Once he got behind the lens and out into the Tahoe backcountry with Kevin Jones, Sean Johnson and Halopoff, the snowboarding life really came into focus for Ian. In 1997, Ian got his first shot published in TransWorld - it was a shot of his bro, the legendary Boozy the Clown, Sean Johnson. And the rest, as they say, is history. "

Behind the Scenes: Personal Multiple Exposure Project

This is a personal project that I did with multiple exposures. I shot different scenes in Los Angeles on over twenty rolls of film, then went into the studio and shot models over those images. This project will be released in the near future. 

Behind the scenes photos.

Thoughts...

This is a quote from Albert Einstein that I've been thinking about a lot lately:

"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts."

I've thought about this for a long time, and I wonder how it would be possible to change facts. What I think is that the truth is based on the majority of people agreeing on something. For example, we all agree that the sky is blue, so we accept this as being a fact. On the other hand, if everyone said that the sky was pink, what we would be seeing would be called pink, and that would be considered a fact. I feel like truth is based upon perception. We should stop considering things to be facts because the majority of people say they are. In my opinion, our perception of reality is an illusion based on how and what we want to see and feel. For example, there could be two people in 32 degree weather. One could say, "It's cold" because he's from a warmer climate, and that could be considered a fact. The other person could say, "It's warm out" because he's from a place where it's -10 degrees, but the majority of people wouldn't agree and therefore that would not be considered a fact. I do believe in Einstein's statement, and I try to apply this whenever I'm shooting and am faced with a problem that seems as if it has no solution. 

Lake Tahoe Community College Photo Presentation

This was an art show and photo presentation at the Lake Tahoe Community College. It was cool because now I've come full circle; from going to school there, to doing a presentation there and being able to talk with current students about photography.

This is Pat, my teacher from the LTCC.

Thanks to Tim Peare for the photos.

90% of the stuff I shoot is illegal.

It's weird how most of the stuff that I'm contracted to shoot is illegal.  America has become so overrun by lawsuits for every little thing, that it's hard to have fun anymore. Everything is a liability. This is an inside look at what one of our shoots looks like. We show up in some small town and unload a truck full of stuff right onto the street. It keeps you young at heart. 

Stevie up in the SOURCE Yo.

We shot this in the studio at the Forum offices. I had just finished shooting for the Special Blend catalog and Forum ended up needing a shot of Stevie for this interview. We shot it in about 10 minutes before Stevie rushed off to the airport. 

DC Women's Catalog Shoot '08

This was for the DC womens catalog that we shot in the DC photo studio. Art direction on this project was Markus Paulsen.

Behind the Scenes: Forum Snowboards '08-'09 Ad Campaign

This is a behind the scenes look at the Forum '08-'09 ad shoot, where snowboarding and Hollywood were brought together. I'd wanted to do a shoot like this for some time. My gaffer, Mark McClanahan, hooked us up with a 4-ton grip truck for the shoot. He told me that we had about 1 million dollars worth of lighting and camera gear from Briese Lighting in L.A. We needed four additional photo assistants to manage all the stuff. Everyone from the Forum marketing department was also on hand to help with production and lightbox setup. 

When we got to Northstar there was hardly any snow left because it was so late in the season. I don't know how they pulled it off, but the Northstar park staff were some of the best, and hardest working people I've ever worked with. The most amazing part of the whole shootwas that we had  twenty-five people on set, working eighteen hour days five days in a row to make this happen. They were all there because they believed in this project and in my vision. I would like to thank everyone who was involved for making the dream a reality. 

Ian Ruhter

Landscape Project

This is a piece from a personal project that I'm working on. This project will be based on shooting  photos and time lapses and put them all together for an art exhibition. The release date is going to be sometime in summer 2011. 

Lightning in Arizona

I took these while traveling through Arizona. Lightning is one of the most powerful natural forces in the world. I could sit and watch it all day. Imagine the possibilities if someone could develop a light that would produce the same beautiful light, but on a much smaller scale.