Rihards Stibelis. No serijas Amãlijas iela 5a

“Rihards made this mask himself. It’s an ice hockey helmet. He wanted to look like Artūrs Irbe, the famous Latvian goaltender.”

On the outskirts of old Riga lies Amalias Street 5a, a wooden building with 37 residents, whom the photographer Inta Ruka has documented since 2004. Her photos are accompanied by short comments based on what these people have told her. The comments are about why they live as they do, who they know, what they do for a living or what they want to be, about money and family relations – in short, about life.

Contemporary photography in the Baltic states in the 1980s and 1990s related and adjusted itself to the Soviet Union and later documented how these nations changed in the post-Soviet era. Ruka is part of this movement. She photographs without artificial light and uses a Rolleiflex camera on a tripod. During the long sittings, while she waits for the right light, she talks to her models and tries to get to know them and the environment she is portraying. Inta Ruka strives to bring out each individual and their personality, and to show that everyone has a special place and something worth telling.