Click here if you’re unable to view the video or gallery on your mobile device.
He’s known as the “Picture Man.”
In the era of social media where everyone with a smart phone is a photographer, Orin “Orie” Rutchick has gone old school and is shooting with large format film to produce beautiful black and white prints, an art that is slowly being lost in the digital age.
Rutchick, 67, who moved from Minneapolis to south Berkeley four years ago, has created a series of almost 200 compelling black and white portraits of his south Berkeley neighbors from his mobile studio on the corner of Adeline and Harmon streets. A lifelong photographer who is also a photography instructor at the Berkeley Photo Center, he moved to the Bay Area to be closer to his children and fell in love with the diverse neighborhood where he lives in a nearby Victorian home.
“I like portraiture, and I like photographing people because of the engagement. I have a chance to meet my neighbors, and it’s helped me connect better with the neighborhood,” Rutchick said.
He loves the deliberate nature of film and finds it more fun to see the image later after he develops the negatives and prints. In addition to his portrait projects, Rutchick has photographed a series on corner markets and also on the “spaces between houses,” but his love is engaging with people. He’s inspired by the work of legendary portrait photographer Richard Avedon, who also used a white seamless background.
“The idea is to be able to document the day-to-day life in Berkeley. I’d prefer to have people ask me to take their photographs rather than me asking them,” Rutchick said.
Rutchick not only enjoys the photography and his subjects, he also enjoys the zen-like process of setting up his mobile studio once a week. It takes him 30 to 45 minutes, and he has obtained a permit from the city to operate the studio after some flak last year. He photographs homeless people, neighbors and any passersby, giving prints to his subjects shortly after the session.
“My only wish was to create a neutral playing ground and bring everybody to the same point of dignity,” Rutchick said.
Resident Dejon Emerson recently stopped by for a portrait with friend James Rockwell, who has been photographed by Rutchick several times, along with his son Prince Eugene Rockwell.
“He’s always giving back to the neighborhood. I like that,” Rockwell said.
Last year, Rutchick used a 2 1/4 film camera to shoot tighter portraits with a black background. This year he’s challenging himself creatively and using a 4 by 5 film camera with a white background for a more full-length look. His sessions are quick, generally less than five minutes once he has set up and adjusted his lighting. He mostly uses the ambient light of the tent, with just a small pop of flash for fill.
“He’s person of interest and he likes people, period, of all nationalities and all races. He’s a good person,” Emerson said.
Rutchick is not only a portrait photographer but also a documentarian. As the cost of living rises, he wants to capture his south Berkeley neighborhood before it becomes gentrified and loses its soul and character. He’s proud to live there and document it.
“Regardless of how people react now, in the future, every photograph becomes more important,” Rutchick said.
His Berkeley Portrait Project from last year will have its opening reception April 6 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the David Brower Center in Berkeley. For more information on the show and to see more of Rutchick’s work, click here.
Berkeley Portrait Project
Orin Rutchick’s portraits of the faces of his Berkeley neighborhood
When: April 1-May 5
Where: David Brower Center, second floor lobby, 2150 Allston Way, Suite 100, Berkeley
Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays
Admission: Free
More information: https://browercenter.org/exhibitions-programs/programs