photographs by Barbara Ruth

Calla Lily dreams: Manipulated Photograph: Picture of a calla lily with the colors changed. The majority of the picture is the leaves, which are primarily midnight blue with some red. There are two flowers, in ivory. One is open, and one is closed. The open one is just a suggestion of flower; no detail. In the upper left of the picture is a cream wall with some flat blue beneath it. All of the colors bleed into each other a bit and there are hints of red in the deep blue of the leaves and on the wall, and touches of the lighter blue in the ivory opened flower. The leaves which are articulated against the wall sway to the left.

Calla lily and wooden fence: Manipulated photograph, rectangular, twice as tall as long. The background is a wooden fence, with burls in the wood and light seeping through between the boards. The burls are phosphorescent green. The tops and bottoms of the boards are lighter in color than the deep brown of the middle section. In the foreground half a dozen calla lily leaves are vibrant violet with lighter blue-green tips. Two leaves have more blue and green than violet. The one calla lily flower is mostly closed, in side view, near the center of the plant, and is cream-colored, with some white.

Daffodils: Manipulated photograph: Three soft black daffodils with deep blue centers are in the middle of the picture surrounded by lilac leaves and blades of grass. The lilac cross in front of one flower, behind the other two. All of the edges and especially the lower right, are lighter, the lilac fading into cream, the general background color.

Road Trip: Manipulated photograph - Image is twice as tall as it is wide. Most prominent in the picture, slightly to the right and below the center,  is an antique car,perhaps from the thirties, four door, black or dark blue, in cherry condition. It is the only car clearly  visible on the 4 lane road.  It appears to float on the surface as it goes around the surface of the road, which repeats faintly at least twice above and below the main road. A line of trees follow around the curve of the road, on the outside, on the right. The right top of the picture is a white opening, indicating sky, and large grey-green hills which extend beyond the frame of the picture. In the top left the entire image has been rendered kaleidoscopic, doubled and shrunk.The effect is two circles, one on top of the other, perhaps resembling eyes. The place where they meet is the starting point of the strip of white which stretches above the hills.

Totem of Cactus and Stone: Manipulated photograph - Picture is twice as tall as it is wide. An image of a cactus with stones and leaves on the ground near it. The image has been mirrored, so all aspects are symmetrical. The cactus (cacti) is a little above the center and bright green, the most vibrant color in the image. The rocks and leaves above and below suggest masks, idols, totems; their colors are various shades of green, from dark moss green to pale lime green, and also beige and tan.

When Chamomile Gets Witchy: Manipulated photograph. The camera looks down on a chamomile plant, which is greatly enlarged. The ground is rendered steely blue, sparse curling lines of midnight blue are the grasses and weeds. Eighteen buds of chamomile raise their cerulean heads, above their lavender bodies. In the lower right some stems have no buds. In the upper right the surface (the ground appears thicker; these are twigs, some of which lie under the chamomile buds. A faint circle can be seen slightly off-center, this area is slightly lighter than most of the rest of the picture. 

Artist Bio: Barbara Ruth is an old lesbian who learns all the time from the Neuroqueer community.  She has epilepsy.