Tess Runion is about to tell me why she loves photography. It’s Sunday afternoon and we’re in her kitchen. The Runion house is bathed in the golden hour of slipping sun rays. She’s putting groceries away. Gary Runion, is managing the most energetic of their three dogs by releasing Piper into the backyard. The couples' teenage children, Gavin and Sophie wander in and out while watching some of the hockey game on TV. It’s a relaxed family atmosphere before the start of a busy week…
Why do you love taking photos?
“Because it’s a creative process! For me, it’s an evolution of who I am, my identity and who I’m becoming” she answers confidently.
Tess is mesmerizing. Her eyes are startling, light, sea glass. She wears her dark, shiny hair in an angled cut and dresses her tiny frame with effortless style. She’s easy to be around and offers an air of familiarity and comfort. There’s an undercurrent of buzzing energy around her. You feel the same energy viewing her work. I’ve spent the last week examining her website. Her edits are subtle and clean. Nothing added or taken away to lessen veristic feelings presented. Her website bio states she’s a storyteller and her work tells the truth, real...raw..What you see is what was felt as the moment was captured. This is the essence of photography. The art of portrayal.
“When do you decide a photo is complete?”
“I just see it. None of my pictures have a constant look of edit. I hope that becomes my unique offering. So much of what we view on Instagram, magazines and TV is highly edited and glamorized. It feels overdone, overexposed. The culling, is my favorite part!”
“What do you want to receive from a photo?”
She glances down to where Bella, her oldest dog, has fallen asleep on the kitchen rug and snores loudly.
“A lot of people say pictures are made not taken, I want to be made to feel how that moment was in real time. To find a relatable emotion and recognize the value of what was happening. I love finding irony in a picture.”
Several pieces of her work contain irony. Comical irony. Like the picture of her son (a younger Gavin) in the yard wearing a t-shirt that reads, “I’m doing work” as he pushes a lawn mower. Another photo exhibits swimmers in a pool. They’re doing handstands underwater, feet in the air and in the background is the depth sign marked in numerical feet. Both will make you smile and look again.
“Who inspired you toward street photography?”
“Vivian Maier...Elliot Erwitt, especially…”
Works by Maier and Erwitt inspired her street photography passion which is her current pursuit. Tess has laser focus for detail. She possesses an ability to spot, shoot and pause a small segment of life while everything quickly changes. I ask about her tattoo, a beautiful font inscription on the underside of her forearm. It reads, ‘Find the Light” She says her next ink will be an aperture of a camera. This makes perfect sense as the function of the aperture controls and directs the amount of light passing through the lens before it falls on the digital sensor for recording. This is how Tess operates. She follows logic and order which allows creativity to keenly shine from her photos.
“What kind of camera do you use?
“Right now I have a Nikon D600. It’s solid but I have a Sigma 35mm ART lens on it. The glass, in my opinion, is the most important part.”
She has a wish list and a new Nikon is on it. She has extensively researched the 800, 810, and 850 DSLR cams and explains how the full frame sensor provides better pixel resolution. The science of photography enthralls her. Proving pictures are made not taken.
Tess holds the reins steady on a full life. She’s a wife, mother, coworker and professional street photographer. She offers services to families coping with pediatric cancer like the Gold Hope Foundation. The mission is gifting self portraits to patients at any stage of cancer. She also supports the ALS foundation, as her father suffered from the motor neuron disease. These harder, heavier parts of life tightly weave fibers of her stories together. They are the difficult moments which deserve to be softly swathed in light and held with respect. Runion is an artist who fully grasps complexity of capturing time, and believes the layers are all dependent upon one another. As fragile as a house of cards or solid as a steel skyscraper. Wherever Tess goes, she will find beauty, bring it into focus and draw our hearts and eyes toward the light.
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