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Up and Coming Photographer Jake Rugino by Dani Zahoran SUNY student and budding photographer Jake Rugino contrasts the old and new with his Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z2 and Nikon F75 35mm cameras. Article rating: 5.76

Young photographer Jake Rugino might be hard to point out in a crowd if you didn’t know him.  At first glance, there is no sign that he might be more than an average college kid.  And in most respects, Jake is just that – a typical college student.  Currently a 19-year-old sophomore at SUNY Purchase in Westchester, he balances a part-time job with schoolwork and a social life.  He splits his time between classes, his girlfriend, activities, and friends… and, of course, photography.  If it’s a Sunday afternoon, you’ll probably find him holed up in his room, finishing up a paper that, like most students, he kept putting off until the last moment. 

But Jake is living proof that the cliché stands true – you really can’t judge a book by its cover.  How many “normal” college students have been inducted into the Kids Hall of Fame at age 11?  Jake was inducted as a cartoonist, but his passion and talent for art didn’t end there.  Over the years, drawing gave way to photography and seeing the world through the lens of a camera has become an integral part of Jake.  

You might claim that Jake, a native of a Long Island, was born into art.  It’s hard for any child to grow up near the city and not develop appreciation for the wonders housed in the numerous New York museums.  But Jake’s love for art more likely came from his family.  His mother, who is the Managing Editor at Photo Industry Reporter, first brought the photo industry to his attention.  A job at CVS pharmacy as a photo technician didn’t hurt his budding interest either.  Add to the mix an inspiring high-school art teacher and a dose of natural talent, and you have an up and coming photographer named Jake Rugino.

Since starting photography as a high-school freshman, Jake’s work has been published and displayed in a variety of arenas.  He had pictures in a magazine created by his high school and his work was featured in Italics Mind, an annual SUNY publication.  Most recently, his work for a photojournalism course has been published in the Dispatcher, a newspaper at Purchase. 

That photojournalism class is actually only one of many courses he’s taken dealing with visual mediums.  As a New Media major, he explores subjects such as graphic design, film production and editing, and, yes, photography. 

Jake doesn’t keep his passion confined to the classroom, though.  He actively searches out chances to take pictures, often taking off with friends on the weekends to find places to photograph.  His weapons of choice?  He has two main cameras – a digital Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z2 and a 35mm Nikon F75.

The fact that Jake has accomplished so much at such a young age is enough of a reason for the photography community to keep an eye on him as his life and career progresses.  However, his photography itself says volumes about the innate talent and skill possessed by this young man.  And, much like his own life, Jake uses his cameras and his eye for art to create the extraordinary out of the ordinary. 

Jake finds his inspiration the little things in life that surround us on a day to day basis.  For instance, all of us have seen (and probably smiled at) a little kid artfully dodging their parent’s grasp and darting off to freedom.  But with Jake’s touch, we see more than a little kid running.  He manages to capture not only the picture in front of him, but the exultation of the child and the sense of freedom it inspires.  Looking at his picture titled “The Great Escape,” laughter threatens to burst out of the viewer almost immediately – both from the picture and the obvious sense of humor displayed by the title.

Humans aren’t the only subject that Jake manages to reconstruct on film.  His photographs of objects add depth and majesty to objects most of us wouldn’t give more than a passing glance to.  A solitary water tower buried among modern skyscrapers evokes a sense of the struggle between the old and the new and of the fight for survival that exists even in a city. 

Beyond that, it is the very contrast of old and new that he portrays that makes Jake’s work exceptional.  Living in and taking pictures of a city in which many other people have done the same makes it a challenge to stand out.  Jake has taken that challenge and overcome it instantly, creating common sights anew.  Ezra Pound said that the goal of every poet, and indeed, every artist, was to “make in new.”  Jake has done this over and over again in his pictures, thus accomplishing at a young age what some artists spend a lifetime attempting to do.  His photographs create both nostalgia for objects like the lonely water tower and antique lemonade barrels, while building affection for the art that remains with us in the touch of those who build parks, statues, bridges, and skyscrapers.  He takes the world around us, which is so often portrayed as bleak and cold, and shows us that art is actually all around us, if we just look at it the right way. 

Jake’s touch can’t be taught; it is a skill he must have been born with.  Now that he’s in college and learning to put all sorts of new media to use, Jake Rugino is definitely a figure that New York can be proud of and that all photographers and photography fans should keep watching.  He may move on to new things and new places, but as he says, “No matter what, I’ll always stick with photography.” This “ordinary” college student will be doing great things with the aid of a camera – and likely inspiring the ordinary among us to the do the same.

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