Richard Renaldi: Strange Connections
fluoro spoke to photographer Richard Renaldi about his Touching Strangers series and how it reveals a sense of intimacy between two otherwise unconnected individuals.
From an idea conceived at a Greyhound bus station, Renaldi explores the concept that we are often in close vicinity of individuals who we do not know. When developing Touching Strangers Renaldi asked two strangers to pose together in an impromptu situation. The action encourages strangers to slow down the everyday pace of life and share a connection with a stranger for a few moments. Something that he hopes the participants will “remember as something rare and unrepeatable.”
fluoro spoke to Renaldi about this project which bridges a gap between documentary and staged photography, resulting in images that are intriguing due to their concept.
(f) How did the idea for Touching Strangers originally come about?
(RR) In 2004 I began a series of portraits titled See America by Bus. I travelled to Greyhound stations across the United States documenting the gruelling subculture of transcontinental bus travel. It was on the long, communal benches in these Greyhound Stations that I first witnessed the unusual circumstance of asking people who were strangers to pose together in one of my portraits. The challenge of coordinating two or more strangers in the same image appealed to me. In thinking about how I could expand on that idea, I thought of this: What would happen if I asked people to touch one another? That question became the genesis of Touching Strangers.
(f) Do you plan your narratives in advance?
(RR) No not really. There was a conscious effort on my part to catalogue the vast array of races, classes, and types of characters that comprise a portrait of contemporary America, but there was just as much left up to chance and serendipity throughout the process of making this work. Occasionally the narratives worked out to read as if this were a real couple or a real family and I liked those situations just as much as the pairings that read as uncommon or opposite.
(f) How does the space the photographs are taken in, impact the end result?
(RR) Background and location are very important to me. I like to isolate my subjects away from the chaotic swirl of life, resulting in a memorable composition. Sometimes the backgrounds reveal very interesting information, like at a bar or diner, and other times it is comprised of a strong graphic element such as a painted wall or coloured bricks.
(f) Why do you choose to work with a large format camera?
(RR) I love the 8 x 10 view camera. It slows down the process of photographing and in slowing things down people are often able to relax before they called to engage with me and my camera. Additionally, the detail is of course second to none. That said I also enjoy photographing with my iPhone and am frequently posting on Instagram.
—
Renaldi will be expanding the Touching Strangers series, taking some photographs in Cincinnati, Ohio as part of a public art campaign during summer. The existing collection will be released as a book via Aperture on Wednesday 30 April 2014. It will bring together 75 works as an interesting dialogue.
—
