| . |
with it's ravenous appetite...yet always leaving you satisfied.
His handsome face and personable appeal became apparent to
the masses from Ruiz’s appearances and participation as a
celebrity judge on several highly related competition reality
series including Tyra Bank’s America’s Next Top Model and the
who knew hit series RuPaul’s Drag Race. Both Banks and the
RuPaul have also posed for his camera and been captured in the
grand Mike Ruiz tradition. Tyra ironically depicted as a
Metropolis-like mannequin, and RuPaul as none other than
Barbie -- the fully-accesorized variation of the dolly that every
little girl aspires to grow up to be.
The subjects of his work are often powerfully liberating celebrities and are most
often women. “Veronica Lake...she personifies everything that I’m about
stylistically -- she’s hyper-real.” It’s not a surprise that he draws from the more
glorious days of Hollywood to inspire his photography.
He attributes his vision and inspiration to his fiercely independent mother. Ruiz
admits that it was the photographs that he began to take of his mother that put
him on track to becoming one of the world’s most glamorous and visionary
creatives. “She looked just like Rita Hayworth,” he reminisces.
I ask him about his work. Ruiz’s muses are strong, sometimes defiant and glorified
-- there’s an intense resolute in their postures and attitudes, and I wonder what it
took to draw that emotion out of them. “I draw something out of them. I would
never portray a woman in a submission
role -- I prefer to put women in
positions of power. I guess I
inadvertently draw that out.” The
fortitude in his subjects is clear, but
His handsome face and personable appeal became apparent to
the masses from Ruiz’s appearances and participation as a
celebrity judge on several highly related competition reality
series including Tyra Bank’s America’s Next Top Model and the
who knew hit series RuPaul’s Drag Race. Both Banks and the
RuPaul have also posed for his camera and been captured in the
grand Mike Ruiz tradition. Tyra ironically depicted as a
Metropolis-like mannequin, and RuPaul as none other than
Barbie -- the fully-accesorized variation of the dolly that every
little girl aspires to grow up to be.
The subjects of his work are often powerfully liberating celebrities and are most
often women. “Veronica Lake...she personifies everything that I’m about
stylistically -- she’s hyper-real.” It’s not a surprise that he draws from the more
glorious days of Hollywood to inspire his photography.
He attributes his vision and inspiration to his fiercely independent mother. Ruiz
admits that it was the photographs that he began to take of his mother that put
him on track to becoming one of the world’s most glamorous and visionary
creatives. “She looked just like Rita Hayworth,” he reminisces.
I ask him about his work. Ruiz’s muses are strong, sometimes defiant and glorified
-- there’s an intense resolute in their postures and attitudes, and I wonder what it
took to draw that emotion out of them. “I draw something out of them. I would
never portray a woman in a submission
role -- I prefer to put women in
positions of power. I guess I
inadvertently draw that out.” The
fortitude in his subjects is clear, but
| . |
www.ambiente.us FEBRUARY | FEBRERO 2010
Mike Ruiz |Re-Imagined
(PART 2 of my INTERVIEW)
By JC Alvarez
To look at the list of artists across the spectrum that Mike Ruiz has worked with is
beyond measure; to be reminded of the iconic imagery that he’s produced over
the years now gracing the most chic Manhattanite’s flat, to our laptops and
mobile devices in our digitally saturated world is even more impressive. But this
is but one facet worthy of exploration of this multi-talented, multi-faceted
individual.
In approaching my research of the artist, of course I was drawn to the imagery
he’s produced as one of the industry’s leading photographers. He’s captured
the naughtier nature of American Idol pop sensation Kelly Clarkson for her most
recent album release, turned comedian and gay icon Kathy Griffin into a prom
queen for the cover of her best selling book, and given us hundreds of hungry
Hollywood glamour pics with his near predatory approach to his art and
wickedly keen eye.
There's a Jolly Rancher® hard candy quality to his work, and like the man himself,
it makes you eager to want to unwrap it, savor the full flavor and cut your teeth
on it. It's visceral...iconic, sweet --
yet never demure. It can evoke
sensations hot as fire, cold as ice --
tempt you with it's unbridled
sensuality and swallow you whole
Mike Ruiz |Re-Imagined
(PART 2 of my INTERVIEW)
By JC Alvarez
To look at the list of artists across the spectrum that Mike Ruiz has worked with is
beyond measure; to be reminded of the iconic imagery that he’s produced over
the years now gracing the most chic Manhattanite’s flat, to our laptops and
mobile devices in our digitally saturated world is even more impressive. But this
is but one facet worthy of exploration of this multi-talented, multi-faceted
individual.
In approaching my research of the artist, of course I was drawn to the imagery
he’s produced as one of the industry’s leading photographers. He’s captured
the naughtier nature of American Idol pop sensation Kelly Clarkson for her most
recent album release, turned comedian and gay icon Kathy Griffin into a prom
queen for the cover of her best selling book, and given us hundreds of hungry
Hollywood glamour pics with his near predatory approach to his art and
wickedly keen eye.
There's a Jolly Rancher® hard candy quality to his work, and like the man himself,
it makes you eager to want to unwrap it, savor the full flavor and cut your teeth
on it. It's visceral...iconic, sweet --
yet never demure. It can evoke
sensations hot as fire, cold as ice --
tempt you with it's unbridled
sensuality and swallow you whole
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there’s often a glint of joy in their eye, a sparkle in their wide angle smiles and
sometimes you’ll find a melancholy sense in their faraway expressions --the
density of emotion is as varied as a favorite box of
Crayola® Crayons -- of the 64 color variety.
And then with a significant glimmer in his
eyes, his reminded again of his greatest
inspiration.
“My mom, who is no longer with us...I put her
on a pedestal -- I look for that quality in
a woman and portray it visually.”
I can relate with Ruiz’s desire to
capture the indomitable
strength in women; my
mother was herself a very
powerful and larger than
life presence -- but with a
rare vulnerability that
she often did not allow
the world to see. The
same can be said for the
work Ruiz has consistently
delivered. About his mother
he says, “she’s always been
such a strong force in my life.”
His mother was French Canadian.
The Montreal, Canada native
admits, “I had quite a delusional
childhood. I come from a very blue
collar environment. I was
perpetually bored as a kid -- the
sometimes you’ll find a melancholy sense in their faraway expressions --the
density of emotion is as varied as a favorite box of
Crayola® Crayons -- of the 64 color variety.
And then with a significant glimmer in his
eyes, his reminded again of his greatest
inspiration.
“My mom, who is no longer with us...I put her
on a pedestal -- I look for that quality in
a woman and portray it visually.”
I can relate with Ruiz’s desire to
capture the indomitable
strength in women; my
mother was herself a very
powerful and larger than
life presence -- but with a
rare vulnerability that
she often did not allow
the world to see. The
same can be said for the
work Ruiz has consistently
delivered. About his mother
he says, “she’s always been
such a strong force in my life.”
His mother was French Canadian.
The Montreal, Canada native
admits, “I had quite a delusional
childhood. I come from a very blue
collar environment. I was
perpetually bored as a kid -- the
| . |
culture I was exposed to came from
the three channels provided by our
television antenna. I developed a rich
fantasy life.” Part of that vivid,
childhood fantasy included a fanciful
idolization of screen actress Brooke
Shields, who in Ruiz’s youth was
achieving her notoriety as the star of
the film The Blue Lagoon. “She was my
pal in my fantasies. She’d come over
to my house and we’d talk shit.” When
the opportunity finally came to work
with Shields, “I orchestrated it so I’d
shoot her here in my house; we were
shooting the breeze -- so it all kinda
came to pass. I allowed (my imagination) to manifest into the way I express
myself visually.”
Mike Ruiz dawned on New York when he was merely 17. “I told my father I was
going camping and came here instead. I had this desperation to come to New
York since the age of 12.” He finally motivated himself and made the Big Apple
his home in the late 80‘s. “I moved to the city with $300 in my pocket and a
dream!” It’s easy and cliché to say that the rest is history, but in Ruiz case there’s
a little bit of truth to that old saying. What a photographer does is capture pop-
culture moments and freezes them in time -- in essence, Mike Ruiz is
immortalizing his subjects, manipulating them to fit into his gum ball colored,
sugary sweet confection of an imagination and then like Willy Wonka reveal his
latest treat to the mouth watering adulation of his public. Before long, Ruiz had
made his name in the game, playing to Miami, LA and coming back to NYC.
Since he’s worked with so many celebrities, and has quickly established his own
unique brand of stardom, I asked him about the current cultural obsession with
fame. “Everyone in entertainment gets put on a pedestal. I don’t know what it
the three channels provided by our
television antenna. I developed a rich
fantasy life.” Part of that vivid,
childhood fantasy included a fanciful
idolization of screen actress Brooke
Shields, who in Ruiz’s youth was
achieving her notoriety as the star of
the film The Blue Lagoon. “She was my
pal in my fantasies. She’d come over
to my house and we’d talk shit.” When
the opportunity finally came to work
with Shields, “I orchestrated it so I’d
shoot her here in my house; we were
shooting the breeze -- so it all kinda
came to pass. I allowed (my imagination) to manifest into the way I express
myself visually.”
Mike Ruiz dawned on New York when he was merely 17. “I told my father I was
going camping and came here instead. I had this desperation to come to New
York since the age of 12.” He finally motivated himself and made the Big Apple
his home in the late 80‘s. “I moved to the city with $300 in my pocket and a
dream!” It’s easy and cliché to say that the rest is history, but in Ruiz case there’s
a little bit of truth to that old saying. What a photographer does is capture pop-
culture moments and freezes them in time -- in essence, Mike Ruiz is
immortalizing his subjects, manipulating them to fit into his gum ball colored,
sugary sweet confection of an imagination and then like Willy Wonka reveal his
latest treat to the mouth watering adulation of his public. Before long, Ruiz had
made his name in the game, playing to Miami, LA and coming back to NYC.
Since he’s worked with so many celebrities, and has quickly established his own
unique brand of stardom, I asked him about the current cultural obsession with
fame. “Everyone in entertainment gets put on a pedestal. I don’t know what it
| . |
is about human nature that makes us put certain individuals (regardless of their
contributions) on a pedestal”. Ruiz has himself seen the lines blurred between
those individuals that have proven their talent and worked their way to the top,
and others who have clung onto desperately to their pseudo-celebrity. “You
can have anything you want -- but I could never understand that.” Ruiz prefers
to rely on his own sense of self, and especially depends on his self-actualization
to make his contributions both artistically and to his community. “Nothing
external ever fills a void in you. You’ve got to do something for yourself...and
once you do, you can have fruitful and happy experiences in life, and have
healthy relationships -- not have them define you.”
It’s a far cry from the insecure, gay, overweight, blue collar,
culturally-challenged Mike Ruiz growing up in Montreal.
Now he confidently dishes his own advice to aspiring models on
television, and generously gives of his time to support one of the
nation’s most worthy causes.
contributions) on a pedestal”. Ruiz has himself seen the lines blurred between
those individuals that have proven their talent and worked their way to the top,
and others who have clung onto desperately to their pseudo-celebrity. “You
can have anything you want -- but I could never understand that.” Ruiz prefers
to rely on his own sense of self, and especially depends on his self-actualization
to make his contributions both artistically and to his community. “Nothing
external ever fills a void in you. You’ve got to do something for yourself...and
once you do, you can have fruitful and happy experiences in life, and have
healthy relationships -- not have them define you.”
It’s a far cry from the insecure, gay, overweight, blue collar,
culturally-challenged Mike Ruiz growing up in Montreal.
Now he confidently dishes his own advice to aspiring models on
television, and generously gives of his time to support one of the
nation’s most worthy causes.
The Trevor Project is an organization dedicated to preventing
suicides among our communities gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender teens, a demographic that through his television
appearances Mike Ruiz has gotten the attention of. “I get e
-mails from gay youth from around the world (including Malaysia
and Indonesia) who say they can’t come out because their
parents will kill them...and I tell them to hold on. There’s a big
wonderful world out there!”
And to the hundreds upon thousands of other gay & lesbian
youth across the world, whose time runs out too soon and often
sadly by their own devices, if not as the victim of a hate crime,
Ruiz can sympathize. “I didn’t think I had many options -- I didn’t
get any pats on the back. I’ve since been raising awareness for
The Trevor Project just because I wish I would have had someone
to talk to. You can create any reality you want for yourself.”
“I’m very happy to be a role model...it’s a responsibility I take very seriously.”
Through his appearances as a guest judge on America’s Top Model, Canada’s
Top Model, and most recently on (the returning for it’s second season in February
on LOGO) RuPaul’s Drag Race Mike Ruiz has shared his professional insight and
truly attempted to mold the next generation of aspiring talent. It’s a crop, that
appears be harvested before maturation and subjected to the brutal scrutiny of
a viciously judgmental viewing audience, much like in the days of Roman
gladiatorial combat. I ask Mike what makes his advice, his approach stand-out
from his colleagues. “I really hope these contestants really take what I say and
use it to their benefit. I was brow beaten for a long time...there’s a difference
when being constructive with someone. I’m honest with people, because I
would want people to be honest with me -- I’m not mean spirited, or out to crush
anyone’s dreams, but reality tv is just that...it’s tv.”
Pretty soon Mike Ruiz himself will be the focus of a new pop-reality phenomenon
with the in-the-works reality series; working title: The Velvet Mafia. The show to
suicides among our communities gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender teens, a demographic that through his television
appearances Mike Ruiz has gotten the attention of. “I get e
-mails from gay youth from around the world (including Malaysia
and Indonesia) who say they can’t come out because their
parents will kill them...and I tell them to hold on. There’s a big
wonderful world out there!”
And to the hundreds upon thousands of other gay & lesbian
youth across the world, whose time runs out too soon and often
sadly by their own devices, if not as the victim of a hate crime,
Ruiz can sympathize. “I didn’t think I had many options -- I didn’t
get any pats on the back. I’ve since been raising awareness for
The Trevor Project just because I wish I would have had someone
to talk to. You can create any reality you want for yourself.”
“I’m very happy to be a role model...it’s a responsibility I take very seriously.”
Through his appearances as a guest judge on America’s Top Model, Canada’s
Top Model, and most recently on (the returning for it’s second season in February
on LOGO) RuPaul’s Drag Race Mike Ruiz has shared his professional insight and
truly attempted to mold the next generation of aspiring talent. It’s a crop, that
appears be harvested before maturation and subjected to the brutal scrutiny of
a viciously judgmental viewing audience, much like in the days of Roman
gladiatorial combat. I ask Mike what makes his advice, his approach stand-out
from his colleagues. “I really hope these contestants really take what I say and
use it to their benefit. I was brow beaten for a long time...there’s a difference
when being constructive with someone. I’m honest with people, because I
would want people to be honest with me -- I’m not mean spirited, or out to crush
anyone’s dreams, but reality tv is just that...it’s tv.”
Pretty soon Mike Ruiz himself will be the focus of a new pop-reality phenomenon
with the in-the-works reality series; working title: The Velvet Mafia. The show to
be produced by
Brillstein Entertainment
centers on the careers
of five gay, urban
creatives. “It’s going
to be about how all of
our different careers
converge and overlap;
how the arts and
entertainment are
interconnected,” but it’
s also going to be
inspiring because it’ll
be about a group of
professionals
passionate about their
field of expertise.
But I worry, as I often do
about the decline of
the culture as our
society continues on it’
s manic obsession with
celebrity and the fame-
seekers begin to
expand into even our
own backyards,
especially when the
perception is that
anyone can be a star.
“It’s the nature of pop
culture -- that’s just
how things happen
Brillstein Entertainment
centers on the careers
of five gay, urban
creatives. “It’s going
to be about how all of
our different careers
converge and overlap;
how the arts and
entertainment are
interconnected,” but it’
s also going to be
inspiring because it’ll
be about a group of
professionals
passionate about their
field of expertise.
But I worry, as I often do
about the decline of
the culture as our
society continues on it’
s manic obsession with
celebrity and the fame-
seekers begin to
expand into even our
own backyards,
especially when the
perception is that
anyone can be a star.
“It’s the nature of pop
culture -- that’s just
how things happen
today.” Celebrity was
once a virtue that was
nurtured and earned,
and nowadays it’s
practically handed out
to anyone willing to sell
themselves for their
promised 15 minutes.
Ruiz sees it a little
differently, and actually
proliferates the
process, and connects
the message back to
what he says could be
the overall inspiration
of his continued
support of The Trevor
Project. “The great
thing about reality
television, and
especially the
competition genre, is
that it gives us a
beacon of hope...any
kid from any town in the
Midwest can be thrust
into the limelight and
have this fantastical
life that they could only
have once dreamed
about!” Mike Ruiz is
determined to provide
that extraordinary
once a virtue that was
nurtured and earned,
and nowadays it’s
practically handed out
to anyone willing to sell
themselves for their
promised 15 minutes.
Ruiz sees it a little
differently, and actually
proliferates the
process, and connects
the message back to
what he says could be
the overall inspiration
of his continued
support of The Trevor
Project. “The great
thing about reality
television, and
especially the
competition genre, is
that it gives us a
beacon of hope...any
kid from any town in the
Midwest can be thrust
into the limelight and
have this fantastical
life that they could only
have once dreamed
about!” Mike Ruiz is
determined to provide
that extraordinary
amount of light that will provide that beacon. A shining light paving
the way for disenfranchised youth looking at their own reflection and
finding their own strength and determination on their race to become
America’s Next...Mike Ruiz.
Now that’s something worth tuning into.
Check out Mike Ruiz’s work on-line at www.mikeruiz.com. And don’t miss
the upcoming season of RuPaul’s Drag Race on LOGO (Check your local
listings) and watch for the premiere of The Velvet Mafia.
For more on The Trevor Project go to www.thetrevorproject.org and
learn more. If you are a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender youth in crisis
and need someone to talk to, contact the helpline at: 866-4-U-TREVOR.
CLICK HERE for more JC Alvarez
Copyright © AMBIENTE MAGAZINE. Do not reproduce without citing this source.
the way for disenfranchised youth looking at their own reflection and
finding their own strength and determination on their race to become
America’s Next...Mike Ruiz.
Now that’s something worth tuning into.
Check out Mike Ruiz’s work on-line at www.mikeruiz.com. And don’t miss
the upcoming season of RuPaul’s Drag Race on LOGO (Check your local
listings) and watch for the premiere of The Velvet Mafia.
For more on The Trevor Project go to www.thetrevorproject.org and
learn more. If you are a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender youth in crisis
and need someone to talk to, contact the helpline at: 866-4-U-TREVOR.
CLICK HERE for more JC Alvarez
Copyright © AMBIENTE MAGAZINE. Do not reproduce without citing this source.