Ruth Lauer Manenti received an MFA from The Yale School of Art in painting and drawing in 1994. In 2012, she was given a large format camera and taught herself how to use it. Gradually she shifted from drawing and painting to photography. Her mother was also an artist who left behind a legacy of unknown work. Growing up, each time her family moved her mother had to leave paintings behind. Part of Ruth’s determination as an artist is to reward her mother for her efforts and to create a continuum. Ruth recently graduated from The Hartford School of Art in photography where she received a merit scholarship for her studies. In 2023 her photobook I Imagined It Empty received the Star Photobook Dummy Award and was published by RM Editorial. In 2025 her second book 4 Sides of The Table was published also by RM Editorial. She is curious how photography can visually reflect themes of love, loss, absence and time passing. Since breaking her neck in a car crash at the age of twenty, Ruth has developed a spiritual life and practice that has informed much of her photographic work. She lives in the Catskill Mountains in NY with her husband, a nurse and tai chi practitioner and their 2 cats.