THE OCEAN AS MUSE
How Roberta Ruocco’s images capture the magic of the sea
Untitled #11406, 2019 by Roberta Ruocco
A good friend of mine who has since passed always used to say: “Us Florida girls gotta find a way to float.”
Growing up on the gulf coast of Florida, we spent many an evening night swimming in the warm coastal waters. The simple act of immersing ourselves in the gulf always made everything better. The water seemed to absolve our fears and anxieties, replacing those feelings with childlike wonder— a baptism of sorts, for two young women who were far from religious— nevertheless searching for meaning as we made our way out into the world.
Roberta Ruocco’s striking images capture the magic of the sea. They evoke in me treasured memories of night swimming with my friend.
Several images of hers have been selected for exhibition at Aqua Art Miami this year. I sat down with her recently to discuss her process and what inspired her to photograph the ocean.
Turns out Roberta is a Florida girl, too. She tells me she grew up in Palm Beach and I recite my friend’s catch-phrase.
“I get that. Absolutely,” she says. “The ocean rejuvenates me. Gives me purpose. Fills me with hope.”
Untitled #11786, 2019
In the decade after graduating with a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in 1994, Roberta Ruocco had built a successful commercial photography career but she felt lost.
“I no longer connected to my work. There was no emotion in it for me. I was ready to throw in the towel, give up the camera altogether. I knew I needed to make a change but I wasn’t sure what direction to go.”
She decided to seek guidance from a mentor. After undergoing a guided process of self-discovery, Roberta had an epiphany: open water is her muse.
“I was always surrounded by water. I grew up with the ocean in Palm Beach, Florida, and my family hails from the Island of Capri, so it makes sense, but I never connected the dots until I took the time to examine my sources of inspiration. And then it hit me: I need to shoot water.”
So Roberta returned to the ocean, as she had often throughout her life— this time with her camera in hand. After a period of trial and error, she developed a process that works for her. She employs extended exposure times, utilizing a medium format digital Hasselblad with a Phase One back.
Most of the work is done in camera. She never knows what she is going to get.
“There’s so much that I can’t regulate, but that’s the beauty of it. Commercial work made me a control freak. These images were an exercise in learning to let go. In the beginning, I would close my eyes to make myself not overthink what I was shooting. Part of what this work forces me to do is relinquish control — create space for the majesty of mother nature to reveal her secrets.”
In Untitled #12998, a work selected for exhibition this year at Aqua Art Miami, Roberta captures a striking moonscape in Capri– one of only several images shot by the light of the moon. Most of her photography documents the sunrise or sunset.
“The colors are most breathtaking at dawn or as the sun descends behind the horizon,” Roberta tells us. “There is nothing like it. If I’m near the ocean, I have to shoot it.” She’s photographed the coast of Florida, Montauk, New York, Italy and the Caribbean.
In her series Lines of Latitude, she combines long exposures with intentional camera movement or a subtle movement of the camera. These long exposures create a dreamlike feel, elongating the landscape, while a slight, panning of the camera-body captures the luminous motion of the waves, the bioluminescent dance of water— as if painting a canvas of sea and sky with a brush dipped in resplendent light.
Roberta uses ND filters to partially filter the image. The only variables she plays with are the exposure time and movement of the camera. Sometimes she uses a single filter, sometimes several. The ND filters allow her to keep the aperture open longer, creating a unique subtle moodiness that is better felt than explained.
By allowing for prolonged exposures, her camera absorbs the refracted light and fuses the chromatic spectrum into a single, still image. This accounts for the ethereal quality of her photographs, which seem to capture a feeling more than just an aesthetic.
“There is something so esoteric about the ocean. As I stare out at the horizon— across a vast body of water, I experience such an intense feeling of peace and calm. Viewers seem to connect to that feeling through my images. The ocean nourishes my soul and is an endless source of inspiration to me, so I find it especially rewarding to be able to share this feeling with others through my work. When I’m looking out at an endless stretch of water, that’s my therapy. That’s what makes me feel whole again.”