Ingrid Plaudis

Ingrid Plaudis was born in Red Deer, Alberta in 1955. In 1968, her family moved to the country, where she developed an interest in horseback riding, which was later supplanted by an interest in art. She studied in the design program at Red Deer College in 1974-75 and in 1980-81 attended Grant McEwan College (now McEwan University) in Edmonton. In 1985, she graduated from Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver with a Diploma in Photography. She subsequently worked for a number of years as a photographic assistant to theatre photographer David Cooper in Vancouver as well as at the Shaw Festival, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. From 1989 to 1991, she was a part-time instructor with the Continuing Education Department of Red Deer College and also worked as a freelance photographer while continuing her own explorations as a photographic artist.

Ingrid Plaudis' interests as a photographer ranged from portraiture to landscape, particularly the natural landscape of Southern Alberta. Her works often displayed aspects of her design background, with the photographic portrayal frequently manipulated to express something of the artist's response to her subject. This might involve, for example, the use of hand-tinting with oils and coloured pencils to create unique, one-of-kind artworks.