‘Lady of the Night’ Rutenberg vividly captures world of darkness

About a year ago, I contacted my former teacher to set a time for an interview and she asked me to hold off a bit, because she was working on a special labour of love. That project, a new photography book by Rutenberg, is about to be unveiled and if you want to be as awed as I am, all you need to do is turn up at its public launch on Thursday, October 18, 2007.

The book, The Garden at Night: Private Views of Public Edens (Chronicle Books, 2007), is a vivid record of the photographer’s trips to 20 North American botanical gardens, including our world-class one in Montreal, beginning the Fall of 2006. Her shots, at each one, were taken during the magical, shadowy hours of night. The resulting 178 images in the book are so unusual and gorgeous I challenge anyone, regardless of your views on flowers, to NOT fall under their spell. Raincoast Books Distribution of Vancouver sent me a copy for the purpose of this column and I keep going back to it for inspiration. When Rutenberg and I finally caught up last week, I learned more. “My husband (Roger Leeon) and I spent approximately four hours at each garden, me wearing a little headlamp and Roger holding a flashlight… very low-tech lighting. The full moon, and lights already existing at each garden, was also used. My Nikon D-70S, a top-of-the-line amateur camera, was mounted on a tripod at all times, as the slightest movement (the biggest nemesis of the project was wind) was problematic.”

Rutenberg chose her gardens carefully, basing her decisions on their inherent character, with the most challenging one proving to be Brooklyn Botanical “because of really bad weather… rain and wind,” she told me. None of her ultimate choices were called into question by her publisher, she told me. She credits the text writer, Montreal’s Vanya Rose, with doing a wonderful job, but the author of the foreword was what caught my eye instantly. Turns out that William Shatner – yes, the West End-raised film and TV actor who played Star Trek’s Captain James T. Kirk and now wins Emmy awards portraying Boston Legal’s Denny Crane – is Rutenberg’s uncle. “My uncle’s wife photographs flowers and, while I hesitated to ask him for this favour, I knew that finding a well-known personality in the States would help the book. He said yes. When I sent him a copy, he told me that ‘I knew it was going to be good, but I had no idea it would be so fantastic.’ His generous support of the project is very important to me.” “Night allows an awakening of the senses, a heightened awareness of the beauty - and a perception of the eloquence – of the natural world,” writes Shatner. And who, after all, knows a world dominated by stars more intimately than Captain Kirk?

Poet and essayist Christopher Dewdney, author of the pioneering book on the culture of nighttime, Acquainted with the Night, also contributes an introduction. But it is the new “lady of the night,” Rutenberg, whose work will enthrall you. Her launch starts at 5:00 p.m. and will be held at 1001 Lenoire, Suite 521 (St. Henri, right behind Home Depot), tel: 514-739-0511. Limited edition prints from the book will be available for purchase. Go to www.thegardenatnight.com for more details.