Interview: Richard Renaldi

Today’s interview is with Richard Renaldi (in picture on right), a fine art photographer whose work focuses on documenting American culture, landscape, and its inhabitants. In this interview, Richard and I talk about his shooting style, working with an 8×10″ camera, his forthcoming book, ‘Fall River Boys’, and his new publishing company, Charles Lane Press.

Jake Stangel: Could you give me a snapshot of what your past month has been like?
Richard Renaldi: I have been on a holiday road trip visiting family in Kentucky and friends in Birmingham, AL. In between, my partner Seth & I made several stops including Memphis and Graceland, Cairo, IL. and Asheville, NC.  I brought along both the 8 x10 and my Nikon D3.  I have done quite a bit of photography and eaten way too much food!

JS: You shoot with a beautiful wooden 8×10 camera. There is no doubt that making an image in large format slows down the entire shooting process, from choosing composition to plane of focus to facial expression/body posture of the subject. What one aspect of shooting 8×10 do you love the most?
RR: One thing I very much like about shooting 8×10 is the aspect of it being a production. It requires planning, transportation, scouting, set up, and if it is a portrait - casting.  And then the actual composing and making of the image. This process is both painful and rewarding. I seem to keep coming back to large format, so it seems that age and the ease of digital is not getting in my way as of yet!

JS: I don’t think many people know that you still also shoot regularly with a 35mm camera for some projects, such as your hotel series. I too love shooting 35mm, it kind of gives me everything large format shooting can’t.
I once read a passage by Mitch Epstein, a photographer who has shot on different formats throughout his career, from a Leica rangefinder in his series on recreation in the 70’s to the more recent large format work he shot for ‘Family Business’. He describes how the camera in his hands influences his shooting style in a refreshing way; how it changes the way he captures a moment, it prevents stagnation of his shooting process. I thought was so interesting and valid in my own work as well. Is this the case for you too- do you adapt your shooting style to the camera you’re holding? If so, what is the common thread between a Richard Renaldi 8×10 and a Richard Renaldi 35mm image?

RR: Good question Jake. I think that shooting 35mm I am more inclined to make pictures of small things like details.  I am also drawn to movement (see my highways series), low light situations - which digital handles so beautifully - street scenes, and travel. I take pictures all the time when I travel, as I love photography. And when I am out looking at the world shooting is exactly what I want to be doing.  The compactness and flexibility of the 35mm is very well suited for just that.  With large format I am able to work slowly and focus on a subject that I think requires a greater commitment both the equipment I am using and myself. However, in some ways I have been merging the more formal way I make portraits with the 8 x 10 with some of the more recent work I have done with digital 35mm.  On the flip side, I have been shooting a little more spontaneously with the 8 x10. The common thread between the different equipment I use is most definitely my point of view and what I have to say with my artwork.

JS: I think you, Mitch Epstein, Joel Sternfeld, and a number of other environmental portraitists are on the forefront of capturing the new, post-industrial America and its inhabitants- let’s say 1970’s onward- primarily though the lens of a large format camera. This style of work is most certainly not the first of its kind, but I like to think of you as one of the August Sanders of America, documenting the different social classes and cultures that exist throughout America in a semi-formalist approach. Your photographic style within this genre of environmental portraiture has also been met with great success.

Your work has, no doubt, inspired a legion of younger photographers, who too shoot LF and even some MF very much in the same visual style and mood: center-weighted subjects, ponderous expressions, shallower depth of field. What do you think when you see these ‘close’ adaptations of your work? Does it inspire you, bother you, are you indifferent? Is there such a thing as ‘ownership’ of an aesthetic you arguably helped create?
RR: I have no reason to feel possessive about composition and stylistic choices that I make with the camera.  These are ways of shooting that have been - and always will be - available to anyone who knows how to make use of a camera.  For me, ideas are as important as craft, and when the two merge then and only then do I think that the work has value for me.  When I look at other work in which the craft is similar to mine or to another artist’s - and the idea is great - I actually get excited.  When the idea is good and the craft is bad, or vice-versa, I am naturally disappointed.  This idea of ownership of an aesthetic is interesting as since copycats and imitators are prevalent in every business, and we live in a very cutthroat culture.  So much importance is placed on success that it is no surprise people feel compelled to mimic. I think that is part of our nature.  I do however think that when someone is being original and true to their personal vision we somehow know it, much like food that is prepared with love: it just tastes better.

JS: I’d now like to talk about your forthcoming book, Fall River Boys, a collection of 8×10” black and white images that you have made in Fall River, MA over the course of nine years. Tell me a little bit about what brought you to Fall River in the first place, and what kept bringing you back?
RR: On my annual summer pilgrimages to Provincetown I was always drawn to the look of this small city that I drove past on my way out to Cape Cod. There are many beautiful brick mill buildings visible alongside the highway in Fall River and this further intrigued me.  So on one trip I hauled along the 8×10 and intended to make some photographs of the architecture.  This was difficult for me at the time, having had more experience with portraits, so I ended up shooting both people (mostly kids that day) and architecture and being happy with what I made.  Thus I returned again and again.  I thought there was a story for me to tell about this beautiful and tough town, and I decided to take my time and find a focused, thoughtful way of telling it.

JS: Your first book, Figure and Ground, was published in 2006 by Aperture. You and your partner, Seth Boyd, have created your own publishing company, Charles Lane Press, and Fall River Boys will be its first title. Can you tell me a little bit about the decision to start Charles Lane Press?

RR: The straight dope on that is that we decided to start Charles Lane Press while we were on the beach in Thailand in March of 2008.  Maybe we’d had a few more Singhas than we needed, but it seemed like a crazy and fun idea.  But having had the experience of doing Figure and Ground and making contact with great people who knew about publishing and the printing of books, we felt secure enough to try doing it ourselves. Seth and I are both avid collectors and aficionados of photography books, so in many ways this felt like a natural extension of the love we share for the photo/art book.

JS: What/who were your major guides in the process of starting the company? What has been the greatest satisfaction of being you own publisher? Have there been any major pitfalls?
RR: Donna Wingate, formerly of D.A.P. and a good friend, has been very helpful. As has encouragement from Lesley Martin at Aperture.  Bryonie Wise who was at Aperture and who did production work on my first book has been a valuable contributor to this project, as well. The greatest satisfaction has been being involved in every decision and step in this process.  It has been a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.  I have a sense that Fall River Boys represents a complete vision which I believe will be clear to people when they see the book. As far as pitfalls go, we had a couple of little freak-outs along the way, but things turned out just how we wanted them in the end.

JS: I know that you and Seth were extremely focused on creating a book that had absolutely no compromises; I have a feeling that a piece of yours and Seth’s heart and soul will accompany every copy. How long did the design and layout process take? Who gave assistance to the process?
RR: The design and layout transpired over the course of the summer of 2008. We hired Andrew Sloat to design the book (he designed my last book Figure and Ground for Aperture) and my friend, the photographer Marc Joseph, as editor.  It was a great team and it was a pleasure to exchange ideas and work together with them on this project.

JS: For a book this close to your heart, I’m sure the sequencing of the images took a great deal of time. Many photographers I’ve talked to have a difficulty with layout and sequencing, especially because they are so deeply involved in the history of each image; it’s difficult to be subjective. What advice can you pass on from the layout process of Fall River Boys?
RR: Perhaps strangely, sequencing has always been something I enjoy doing.  Andrew Sloat, the designer of Fall River Boys, has such a great feel for it, and puts so much thought into how images will read in a sequence, that I have felt very comfortable with his recommendations. Working with a designer and editor is a collaboration and there is always a little bit of give and take. My advice when sequencing is to follow an order or rhythm that feels natural and organic. If something feels too forced, then it is.  If you love an image then fight for it and make sure it gets in there.  But if you can see that it might not work for a particular project then don’t feel bad about letting go. There may be a place for that photo somewhere else someday.  I highly recommend working with a qualified designer and editor. And if you are on a tight budget, then I would suggest doing trades or favors for other photographer friends to help you edit and build a flow. I can’t stress enough the importance of collaboration when making a book.

JS: Can you tell me a little bit about your trip to Germany to oversee the printing process of the book? What combination of factors makes Germany a premier printing destination? Is their craftsmanship a factor, their actual printing presses, their attention to detail?

RR: Well that’s where the printing press was invented, so I think they know a little something about it!  In all seriousness, the people we work with in Germany are passionate about offset printing and see it as an art unto itself.  The press operators and the company representatives became important members of our team throughout the process of making Fall River Boys.  They understood from the beginning the level of quality we were trying to achieve, and were up to the challenge.  Although there are good printers all over the world, great ones - especially who can translate a photograph into a printed image with no loss of detail or tonal range - are less numerous and we were lucky to connect with them. Having a great color separator like Bob Hennessey on your side helps enormously as well.
JS: The price for the first run- 1,200 copies- of Fall River Boys is $85. There is no need to explain that no compromise has been made in making the piece, but could you tell me, in terms you are comfortable with, about how you arrived at this price?
RR: We arrived at the price after careful analysis of our expenditures on Fall River Boys, and what our hopes are for the future of Charles Lane Press. I can tell you that to maintain the level of quality that we want for our books, we are unwilling to sell them through a major distributor.  The payment we would receive for our books would end up being lower than the actual cost per book!  So, to be able to afford the highest production values with Charles Lane Press books, we have decided to assume the responsibility of distribution ourselves.  We will be marketing it aggressively, but I also hope that word of mouth and the quality and beauty of our books will help generate enthusiasm for Charles Lane Press.

JS: I know you have been thinking about the future of film photography, and have begun to dabble with shooting a Nikon D3. As the newspaper and magazine publishing industry slowly dies, what are your overall thoughts about the market for fine art books in the next ten years? Do you think it will go the way of the publishing world, or do you think it occupies a unique territory of demand? Have you recently seen any new ways of viewing work online that has intrigued/impressed you in its quality or presentation?
RR: Online, I think the New York Times full screen audio slideshows can be an impressive way of looking at work.  So is the portfolio site Photography-Now. And I look at a lot of other photographers’ websites online.  If I were to limit myself to only looking at what was published or shown in galleries or museums I would be missing a lot of work.  I think the web can be very democratic in that way.  You can get your stuff out there for people to see without the filter of the curator or institution.  As far as the future of the art/photo book, I think it is a bright one. Books are tactile and it is a wonderful thing to hold an actual book in your hands and turn its pages.  For a lot of people, that sentiment is not going away.  For me, the photo book is the ideal expression of what I do. My work is heavily project based and I am often thinking in terms of this or that project becoming a book. I think many other artists feel that way as well.

JS: Richard, it’s been an absolute pleasure, thank you so much for your time.