Photographer Spotlight: Richard Renaldi

Father and Son. Barcelona, Catalunya, 2010

Having attempted a bit of street photography myself (as above), the latest work by New York photographer Richard Renaldi has certainly caught my attention. Perhaps you have already heard his interview on NPR or seen his Touching Strangers project (see my blog post of October 24, 2013). His work goes well beyond that.

To check out what he does (if you aren’t already familiar) start with this 2 1/2-minute YouTube video about Touching Strangers:

Now, go to his website, Richard Renaldi Photographs, and peruse his galleries. He has landscapes, cityscapes, ruralscapes, airportscapes, monochrome, color…all excellent. But it is his portrait work that, to me, is exceptional. He has a way of capturing both the essential and unique of each of his subjects. (Maybe it is the fact that his process is slow and deliberate, using an 8×10 view camera…or maybe it is his somewhat shy personal demeanor.) Especially intimate and personal are his Hotel Room Portraits, which happen to be 50% self-portraits.

To hear an interesting interview with the photographer himself, focused on his 2009 Fall River Boys exhibit in Atlanta (absolutely captivating street portraits around the Fall River, Massachussetts ‘hood), check out this 6-minute video:

It always seems to come down to this: To do good work in photography (or anything, for that matter), you need to be committed and passionately involved in what you are doing. Richard Renaldi certainly is.