Man With a Mission Local Photographer Restores 19th-Century Church in Labor of Love by Serena Lei Larry Ruggeri has been photographing foreign ambassadors to the United States for eight years, totaling nearly 100 covers for The Washington Diplomat alone. His thriving business, Ruggeri Photography, includes clients that range from AT&T to the FBI, covering magazine editorials to high-tech advertisements. Recently, he purchased and restored a condemned 19th-century church in Hyattstown, Md., now available for weddings and often used as a studio. Ruggeri takes all of his work in stride. A self-taught photographer, Ruggeri is the rare, unpretentious mix of businessman and artist, grounded in his firm devotion to family and God. ìI have an Asian girl.î This is one of the first things Ruggeri said while we were driving to his restored church. I am momentarily surprised, since Ruggeri is Italian. He explains that his four-year-old Korean daughter, Kaela, is adopted. ìEverything I do is for my family,î he said. A pink, heart-shaped note sits on his dashboardóa reminder from Ruggeriís wife, Tracy, which she tucked into his lunch bag. ìSheís my angel,î he said, ìthe most un selfish person Iíve ever met.î Tracy devotes her time to caring for Kaela and their 11-year-old daughter, Brittany. Ruggeriís father died when he was 8. ìThe same year Kennedy died,î he noted, a historical marker he has probably repeated more than once. His mother, widowed without life insurance, began working as a grocery store cashier, managing to support Ruggeri and his two older sisters with help from the church. The girls slept with their mother in a one-bedroom apartment in New Jersey, while Ruggeri slept in a closet big enough for a small bed. ìIt was totally cool for me,î he said. ìIt was like a fort, and I had my own room.î In a few years, the family moved in with Ruggeriís grandparents until his mother saved up enough money for a house. ìI had a lot of father figures,î Ruggeri said. A minister gave Ruggeri his first camera. Another brought him to a Maryland community college and gave him the direction he needed to find his career. It is a religious narrative that he does not romanticize but rather respects. ìI was a truck driver,î Ruggeri said. ìI knew I was supposed to do something else with my life, but I had no idea Ö [The minister] brought me right to the television studios, and I just freaked out.î There is still a hint of the hippie Ruggeri claims to have been at 17. After college, Ruggeri started his own photography business, turning a chance opportunity with a $10-per-picture client into a million-dollar account over four years. Ruggeri picked up several other big clients along the way, updating his business with Web technology and digital photography to stay current. He has three Web sites (www.ruggeriphoto.com, www.digitalphoto.com and www.circlevision.com), not including one for the church, to market his services to different target groups. Circlevision technology enables Web viewers to literally pan across a room, exploring sites in virtual three-dimension form. Portions of Ruggeriís portfolio are available on his other two Web sites. When photographing a chief executive officer or ambassador, Ruggeri finds that they inevitably wish to be pictured in their office, holding a phone. Instead, Ruggeri looks for a more interesting location, starting with a preconceived plan. When photographing Ted Leonsis, vice chairman at America Online, Ruggeri took one shot and knew he was finished. The picture is a close-up of Leonsisís face, filling the frame with arched eyebrows and a wicked, in-your-face smile, like a manic cartoon character. One of Ruggeriís favorite stories is his photo shoot with Robert Johnson, chairman and chief executive officer of Black Entertainment Television (BET). ìHis photos are usually staid, poised, very formal,î Ruggeri said. To reform this look, Ruggeriís editors wanted a picture of Johnson cupping his hands to his mouth and shouting ìWow!î At first, Johnson refused, citing that he had an image to maintain. ìI know youíll do this, because you were like me once, and you would do anything to get the shot or make the deal to be where you are today,î Ruggeri said, trying to convince Johnson. ìI said, ëLetís go back to when you were 6 years old and Luigi just took your bicycle. Youíre running after himócan you picture this? And yell, ëHey, Luigi!íî Johnson acquiesced, shouting ìHey, Luigi!î to the great surprise of his own public relations team. ìWhen I left,î Ruggeri continued, ìhe shook my hand and said ëLuigi, it was fun.íî Ruggeri has an eye for capturing the personality in a portrait, but he has succeeded because of his business sense, a strength he credits to his mother. ìYou have to put more attention into the business end of photography than you do the art,î he noted. Ruggeri is concerned that on-line clip art, a fast and inexpensive way to purchase pre-existing photos, is rendering the trade irrelevant. ìIt is hard for photographers to make a living selling original photography,î Ruggeri said. ìIf you are really into [photography], have a back-up plan.î At this stage, Ruggeri does not need a back-up plan, but his future may not be in photography. Four years ago, when Ruggeri was baptized, religion took on a new meaning for him. ìI just kind of got it, and when you get it, you get on fire Ö and your whole life changes,î he said. Last year, Ruggeri was searching for a new studio with high ceilings. He prayed that God would help him, and the next day his real estate agent called and asked if a church would work. ìI think thereís a bigger picture Ö and that He has been speaking to me since I was baptized.î Although Ruggeri does not have the training to be a minister, he has not ruled it out of his life. ìI think it would be great to be a minister, just because of the influence on my life of ministers.î Ruggeri has offered the chapel to church groups as a meeting space. He is also renting the chapel out for weddings and christenings. In the future, he hopes a congregation will make his church their home, allowing him to counsel young couples about marriage. The church that Ruggeri bought was built in 1875 and first served as the United Methodist Church South. Since 1952, it had been used as an antique store, a gun shop, a swimming pool store, and storage for a cabinet maker. When Ruggeri purchased it, the church was considered condemned, and the bank would not risk a mortgage. Ruggeri was forced to pay the $40,000 upfront, and has since poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the restoration. Ruggeri said the church restoration was helped along by ìlittle miracles,î such as sudden financial windfalls or unexpected help. He ditched early plans to turn the space into a high-tech studio, costing him his first architect. Ruggeri then met David Cahoon, who not only owns St. Josephís Carpentry Shop, but is also affiliated with Ecclesiastic Woodwork, which specializes in church restorations. God need not always work in subtle ways. Early interior photos of the church are unrecognizable from the restored chapel. Ruggeri had to completely rebuild the roof, remake the windows that had been boarded up, restore the original sashes and glass, and replace the flooring. He named the property ìMilton Ridgeî after his friend and contractor, Steve Milton. ìThe Historic Chapel at Milton Ridgeî is now a simple and beautiful one-room chapel with an exposed ceiling, hardwood floors and a mezzanine loft. On Aug. 22, the church was formally opened. Maryland state and Montgomery County executives and members of the Historic Preservation Commission attended the ceremony and commended Ruggeriís accomplishment. Although proud of the recognition, Ruggeri puts it in perspective: ìIíve had so many struggles in my life to overcome, this is nothing.î Serena Lei is a contributing writer to The Washington Diplomat.