The Urbanaut Podcast

Ep. #47: Embracing Emptiness: A Conversation with Ruth Lauer Manenti on Art and Memory

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🎙️ Welcome to Ep. #47 of The Urbanaut Podcast, presented in collaboration with Urbanautica.com. In this intimate and reflective episode, we welcome the inspiring artist-photographer Ruth Lauer Manenti. Ruth’s journey is a profound narrative of resilience, memory, and art, shaped by her family’s legacy and her spiritual practice. Her current projects, Excerpts/I Imagined It Empty and Engravings, explore themes of life’s impermanence and the quiet beauty in everyday moments.

About Our Guest: Ruth Lauer Manenti
Ruth Lauer Manenti received her MFA from Yale in painting and drawing and later transitioned to photography, achieving what she had long sought through drawing and painting. Inspired by her parents’ poetic sensibilities — her father’s reverence for life’s transience and her mother’s gratitude for nature’s simplicity — Ruth’s work captures the fragility and fleeting beauty of life. Currently pursuing her MFA in photography at Hartford University, she continues to deepen her exploration of memory, spirituality, and the traces of loved ones we carry with us.

Tune in to this episode to:

  • Hear about Ruth’s creative evolution from painting to photography and her journey toward artistic authenticity.
  • Explore the narratives behind her projects Excerpts/I Imagined It Empty and Engravings, inspired by her home in the Catskill Mountains.
  • Reflect on themes of loss, family legacy, and the meaningful moments of shared existence captured in her photographs.

    • Don’t forget to:

    • Subscribe to our channel for more insights from artists who bring unique perspectives to photography.
    • Like and share this episode to celebrate the transformative power of memory and art.
    • Follow us on social media for updates and exclusive behind-the-scenes content.

      • EPISODE LINKS
      Ruth’s Website: Ruth Lauer Manenti

      OUTLINE
      0:00 - Most Replayed
      1:02 - Ruth’s Background and the Early Influence of Family
      8:33 - Discovering Photography and Leaving Painting
      15:24 - Art as a Lifeline and Therapeutic Practice
      22:02 - Embracing Emptiness in Art and Life
      30:00 - Excerpts/I Imagined It Empty — Capturing Memories of Her Mother
      40:11 - Photographing the Beauty of the Everyday
      50:17 - Reflections on Family, Legacy, and Time
      1:02:27 - How Ruth Hopes Her Art Impacts Viewers
      1:11:08 - The Vulnerability of Sharing Personal Work
      1:39:05 - Creating Art as a Continuum of Family and Memory

      SOCIAL

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        • #RuthLauerManenti #TheUrbanautPodcast #Photography #CatskillMountains #IImaginedItEmpty #ArtisticProcess #MemoryAndLegacy #urbanautica

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        The Urbanaut PodcastBy Patrick Lee Hubbard