Renaldi's "Fall River Boys"

April 13, 2009 9:36 AM

Richard Renaldi is doing some pretty wonderful photography. For several years, he’s been using a large format 8x10 camera (with the hood and everything), profiling people in ways that feel both intimate and authentic. His first book, “Figure and Ground,” is a collection of portraits and landscapes that capture, with a quiet intensity, a diverse cross-section of the country. His newest book, “Fall River Boys,” is a sort of chronicle of a decaying American town, and the (mostly) young inhabitants who are either unable or unwilling to leave. (He and his partner even launched their own press to get it published.)

Earlier discussions here and here.

posted by mapalm (8 comments total)

Those are nice. Really nice actually. I've seen Fall River Boys, and while I have weird personal issues with most contemporary black and white portraiture, I can certainly appreciate what he's doing there. It's one of many echos of the classic "collection of impoverished people" that the FSA popularised, but it lends a bit of a twist to it.

I actually really like his colour portraiture on his main site, like this and this and this, among many others. They don't necessarily say a lot, but they are definitely pretty.
posted by Magnakai at 9:57 AM on April 13, 2009

I think Fall River Boys is really really great work. And Touching Strangers is an interesting idea. I am not sure the figure and ground ones or the landscape ones really hold up.
posted by shothotbot at 11:31 AM on April 13, 2009

As long as we have a photography thread going, I will bring up these How Not To Photograph series of posts. I dont really approve without evidence that he likes anything at all, but I have been going back to re-read some of it.
posted by shothotbot at 11:36 AM on April 13, 2009

Oi, I miss having access to an 8x10 camera and the appropriate Polaroid film...

*wistful sigh*
posted by Jezztek at 11:38 AM on April 13, 2009

This is really great work. Thanks!
posted by paperpete at 12:36 PM on April 13, 2009

So there's definitely a distinctive look to 8x10 cameras. What is it? Is it that there just so much negative, that you can take more of the viewing plane in with less distortion? I love it, but just don't know what that it is.
posted by Sreiny at 8:52 PM on April 13, 2009

Beautiful photos, thanks for pointing it out; even though the decaying american cities meme is getting a little tiring his shots don't seem as exploitative.
posted by saucysault at 2:49 AM on April 14, 2009

8x10 cameras have a really strange depth of field. That's what I find gives them that strange look. And yeah, the negative are massive. I love Renalid's stuff. I think I linked to his touching strangers project a while back.
posted by chunking express at 6:53 AM on April 14, 2009