Kettle Valley
2006
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image/sheet: 19 × 24.2 cm (7 1/2 × 9 1/2 in.) mount: 40.6 × 50.8 cm (16 × 20 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of J. Patrick and Patricia A. Kennedy
Accession Number
2020.163.13
Art Historical Context
Mark Ruwedel's *Kettle Valley* (2006) captures the quiet poetry of the American West through a gelatin silver print, a traditional black-and-white photographic process that harks back to the medium's analog roots even in the digital age. This 19 × 24.2 cm image, elegantly mounted to 40.6 × 50.8 cm, invites viewers into the remote Kettle Valley region, likely evoking the remnants of early 20th-century railroads that once carved through British Columbia's rugged terrain. Ruwedel's work belongs to contemporary landscape photography, where he meticulously documents human traces on the land—abandon...
About the Artist
Mark Ruwedel
Mark Ruwedel, born on June 11, 1954, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, initially pursued painting, earning a BFA from Kutztown State College in 1978. He transitioned to photography during this time, later obtaining an MFA from Concordia University in Montreal in 1983. Working as a custom printer in Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1980 honed his technical skills before he relocated to Canada, where he taught a...