Artist Spotlight: Victoria Will

We had a very special visitor last Friday. Photographer Victoria Will stopped by the rental department to show us her most recent project: tintypes. 

Victoria has been making waves with her new series, having shot more than a hundred photographs of some of the world's most adored actors and actresses at the Sundance Film Festival. Her haunting photograph of Philip Seymour Hoffman, in particular, has been getting a considerable amount of attention as it is the last photograph of the actor before his untimely death earlier this month. The amount of care given in each tintype is incredibly apparent and we are so very excited for her! Check out a few images from this series below, and be sure to visit her site to see even more! 

We're hoping to put together a gallery show for Victoria some time really soon, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the date and time!  

Meet the staff: Ryan

Ryan Billings works in the rental department of Foto Care. A Foto Care employee for 5 years, Ryan has become a huge asset to the rental team. 

Photo of Ryan taken by Daniel Orren at Highline Stages

In rentals, Ryan's responsibilities include packing orders and providing support to rental customers for both still and video equipment. Most of his time is spent speaking with clients about the right gear for their shoot and coming up with solutions for all sorts of problems that can arise with a shoot. "It's sort of like being on 10 sets at once, but the guys I work with make it much easier," he says. 

Before joining the rental guys, Ryan freelanced for  two commercial photographers, assisting with location lighting, fine art printing, stuffing mailings, painting cycs, milling frames from fallen trees, "recycling the darkroom water to flush toilets" for the most eco-friendly photographer on the planet, among other tasks here and there. That is a wide variety of photography experience!

"My photography has progressed from shooting bands and environmental portraits, to wedding photography. I really enjoy shooting weddings because it is fast-paced and fairly diverse. I use just about everything I have learned shooting still life, portraits and landscapes to give the bride and groom a romantic perspective of their special day."

And speaking of special day, Ryan just got married!

We're so excited for these two lovebirds! 

"I just got married and it was an amazing day, I never expected it to go so fast and be so fun."

So if you've got gear questions, be sure to stop by the rental department and ask Ryan. And, throw a congratulations his way!