Inta Ruka

Inta Ruka (b.1958) is Latvia's most renowned photographer and one of the most fascinating names among European image makers. Working in her hometown of Riga, Inta Ruka brings to her photos of her countrymen both curiosity and honesty, as well as a sense of mutual trust, which permeates all her portraits.

"As a successor of Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange or August Sander, Inta Ruka is part of the purest tradition of anthropologists of photography. Artisan of universal beauty, she captures the soul, the humanity of all the people who make up today's rural Latvia, each one of her images reveals the great complicity that Inta Ruka has with those she photographs, and these unadorned faces are magnified by natural light alone. Her black and white portraits give us a breath of melancholy freshness and freedom."

Documentary films :

"Photo – Inta Ruka", directed by Arvids Krievs, Latvia, 2005

“Photographer from Riga", directed by Maud Nycander, Sweden, 2009

Works in public collections:

Fotografische Sammlung, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany

Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden

European Central Bank, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Collection de la Banque privée by Edmond Rothschild, Geneva, Switzerland

AB.LV Bank Contemporary Art Collection, Riga, Latvia

Fotomuseum im Stadtmuseum in Munich, Munich, Germany

Heden, The Hague, Nederland

Kumu Art Museum of Estonia, Tallinn, Estonia

Latvian National Museum of Art, Riga, Latvia

Latvian Museum of Photography, Riga, Latvia

Museet for Fotokunst, Odense, Denmark

Royal Library, Stockholm, Sweden

Rogaland Kunstmuseum, Stavanger, Norway

Hälsinglands Museum, Hudiksvall, Sweden