Manhattan Sunday is part homage to a slice of New York nightlife, and part celebration of New York as palimpsest-an evolving form onto which millions of people have and continue to project their ideal selves and ideal lives. In the essay that accompanies his photographs, Richard Renaldi describes his experiences as a young man in the late 1980s who had recently embraced his gay identity, and of finding a home in "the mystery and abandonment of the club, the nightscape, and then finally daybreak," each offering a "transformation of Manhattan from the known world into a dreamscape of characters acting out their fantasies on a grand stage."
Richard Renaldi (born in Chicago, 1968) graduated from New York University with a BFA in photography in 1990. Renaldi is represented by Benrubi Gallery, New York, and Robert Morat Galerie, Berlin. Manhattan Sunday is Renaldi’s fourth book, following Figure and Ground (Aperture, 2006), Fall River Boys (2009), and Touching Strangers (Aperture, 2014). In 2015, he was named a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow in Photography.
Touching Strangers (Aperture, 2014):
Renaldi pairs disparate people in terms of culture, religion, and
dress and implores them to embrace one another. We see how a forced
interaction can break down boundaries created by stereotypes and
subcultures. (Debbie Grossman, American Photo)
What makes Renaldi's photographs thrilling is that, even knowing
his strategy, the viewer can't help fabricating a story about the
subjects' relationship. We weave narratives around them who they
are, the unlikely tenderness that might exist between strangers.
(Anna Altman, New York Times Book Review)
The collection has a captivating strangeness to it that reveals the
sensitivity we have about each other's skin. (Allison Meier,
Hyperallergic)
Most photographers capture life as it is, but in these strangers,
Richard Renaldi has captured something much more ethereal and
elusive. He shows us humanity as it could be as most of us wish it
would be and as it was, at least for those one fleeting moments in
time. (Steve Hartman, CBS News)
Renaldi's unusual photographic formula reveals the unlikely ways
the body and the heart can influence each other. (Priscilla Frank,
Huffington Post)
The photographer Richard Renaldi is a matchmaker for tense times.
(John Leland, New York Times Lens Blog)
Often posing his subjects in a way one might for family or couple
photos, Renaldi attempts to capture an implied narrative, bringing
a new complexity to portrait-making and visual storytelling. (Erik
Tanner, TIME Lightbox)"
"Touching Strangers" (Aperture, 2014): Renaldi pairs disparate
people in terms of culture, religion, and dress and implores them
to embrace one another. We see how a forced interaction can break
down boundaries created by stereotypes and subcultures. (Debbie
Grossman, "American Photo") What makes Renaldi's photographs
thrilling is that, even knowing his strategy, the viewer can't help
fabricating a story about the subjects' relationship. We weave
narratives around them who they are, the unlikely tenderness that
might exist between strangers. (Anna Altman, "New York Times Book
Review") The collection has a captivating strangeness to it that
reveals the sensitivity we have about each other's skin. (Allison
Meier, Hyperallergic) Most photographers capture life as it is, but
in these strangers, Richard Renaldi has captured something much
more ethereal and elusive. He shows us humanity as it could be as
most of us wish it would be and as it was, at least for those one
fleeting moments in time. (Steve Hartman, CBS News) Renaldi's
unusual photographic formula reveals the unlikely ways the body and
the heart can influence each other. (Priscilla Frank, "Huffington
Post") The photographer Richard Renaldi is a matchmaker for tense
times. (John Leland, "New York Times "Lens Blog) Often posing his
subjects in a way one might for family or couple photos, Renaldi
attempts to capture an implied narrative, bringing a new complexity
to portrait-making and visual storytelling. (Erik Tanner, TIME
Lightbox) "
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