End of the World?

This article in the NY Times about a particle accelerator in Switzerland is pretty scary. It looks like something from Star Wars that destroys planets! I wonder what the worlds premier astrophysicist photo blogger has to say about it?

Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York Times

Upcoming Events

I will be lecturing at the Camera Club of New York on Tuesday, April 22nd, 7pm. It will be held at the School of Visual Arts,
Amphitheater at 209 E.23rd St. between 2nd and 3rd Ave. I will be showing some more recent work as well as some of the work I did for the Microsoft shoot.


I will also be lecturing at the New York Public Library. The talk is part of the Aperture Events series. It will be held July 14th at the mid-manhattan branch at 455 Fifth Ave. I will be showing work from my first monograph Figure and Ground as well as some newer work.


Lastly, I am teaching a week long workshop at ICP this summer. If anyone is interested in taking my class here is the information and course description...

THE LARGE-FORMAT PORTRAIT•
08MVC15 | Richard Renaldi
July 21–25 | Mon–Fri | 10:00 am–5:00 pm | $600 + $30 fee
During this class, students will become familiar with using
both the 8x10 and the 4x5 view cameras. There will be a
demonstration with the instructor’s own 8x10 camera, as
well as an assignment using the school’s 4x5 cameras.
We will review and discuss the work of large-format
photographers. Students will create a small, strong portfolio
of portraits during the week with a final review on the
last day of class. Emphasis will be on photographing
strangers and unfamiliar subjects. We will also discuss the
instructor’s own work and cover as much technical information
as possible throughout this fun, one-week course.
PREREQUISITE: Photo III or portfolio review

Robin Bowman

Umbrage Editions recently released a book called It's Complicated: The American Teenager. In it are beautiful moving portraits of teenagers by photographer Robin Bowman. I just received the book this week and it is a very strong and inspiring body of work.

Trees

Big Beach, Maui



Honolulu, HI.



Calakmul, Mexico



Flood Plain, Jeffersonville, Indiana



Big Island, Hawaii


There is always the urge to photograph something beautiful in nature. I resisted landscape photography for a very long time from an anxiety about whether it might be boring. As it turns out I have been really satisfied with what I have created in regards to landscape. This leads me to this recent series which I am still a little apprehensive about showing but I cherish trees - so here it goes... They at least should be more interesting than Lee Friedlander's tedious twig pictures. I hope to get them all up on my website soon.

Planet Earth

I just finished watching the fourteen part BBC series Planet Earth. It was the most spectacular natural history series I have ever seen. The cinematography was breathtaking and the content was literally mind blowing. Our planet is such a beautiful extraordinary place and it is essential we all take care to keep it that way. You can rent the DVD's here or buy them here.

8 x10 from Taipei

Wu



Max



Newlywed

Back Home in NY

I arrived home on Wednesday morning after a three week trip to Asia and for the first time since October I have no immediate travel plans. I have to say that fact makes me very happy as I have been traveling for this Microsoft campaign for a total of five months and I am really looking forward to focusing on my own personal work again. The experience of doing this job has been an incredible journey. I had started talking with the agency back in July of last year, hired a producer and put in several bids before an answer arrived. I honestly did not think I would in the end be awarded this job and it had started to seem like they were stringing me along as this process took over 3 months. There was so much uncertainty around whether it was going to be me or not. Initially, they were thinking of going with two photographers due to the enormous nature of the campaign - 34 subjects in fifteen countries. I was actually pushing for this split but in the end they choose only one. I think I nearly fainted when I found out from both excitement and anxiety. I had never done an advertising job before let alone a photo shoot in fifteen countries. I had only a week and a half to prepare before setting out for Berlin back in the middle of October. The first couple of days on the job were very intense for me and back then I didn't think or know if I could make it through the rigorous travel and work schedule. I remember being in near tears after my first pre-production meeting having never before even knew what a pre-production meeting was and entailed. I still don't much like them and my understanding is not many people do but they go quickly and of course after over 30 meetings I now have got the pre-pro thing under my belt...
I have "climbed that mountain"and returned home a more experienced and hopefully better photographer. All of this of course could not have been done without the help and collaboration of a great crew. My first assistant - shared by both my friend Wadley and then my partner Seth were an enormous help and my fantastic producer Mary Pratt could handle and resolve any difficult issue or situation that came up with calmness and grace. Being able to work with local crews from so many different countries and meeting so many new people was rewarding, as was working with the agency people from McCann and the clients representing Microsoft -all very nice down to earth people. In the end I am so happy they choose only one photographer- me! and that they produced an entire advertising campaign of real people in eight by ten large format with all natural light- all extremely rare and unusual in this business especially in the digital age.


Getting a little too close to the Wisner in Taipei...

photo courtesy of Mary Pratt

Hawker Stands and Street Food

My partner Seth & I have been eating our way through Malaysia and Taipei. I usually don't post about my other interests on this photography blog but this experience has been such a great time I wanted to share it here. There is nothing more rewarding than going to a street stand and seeing them prepare the food right before your eyes. The whole process is transparent and extremely inexpensive for some of the best food I have ever had. Many American chefs travel to Asia to learn about the street food here then incorporate it into their own cooking, charging 20 times as much!! Malaysia is particularly special because the cuisines of three distinct ethnic groups (Malay, Chinese and Indian) have all blended together resulting in an endlessly rich and diverse food culture.



Jalan Alor night market, Kuala Lumpur



Making Char Koay Teow at the Chulian Street Night Market,Penang



Teppanyaki hawker at the Lin Jiang Night Market, Taipei



Pot of Laksa Asam at the Petaling Night Market, Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur



Making Dal at the Jalan Alor night market, Kuala Lumpur



Egg and Oyster Omelet at the Jalan Alor night market, Kuala Lumpur



Fruit Stand in Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur

The Petronas Twin Towers

These buildings are stunning.

New TV Towers

Kuala Lumpur



Kuala Lumpur



Milan



Stockholm



Helsinki



Calgary