I have been an enormous fan of Richard Renaldi‘s work for almost four years now and a couple of summers ago, I was lucky enough to grab a spot in his workshop on portrait photography. During that week I was able to get a perspective of what makes Richard’s work so unique. Richards has the ability to successfully capture the vulnerable and brutally authentic spots of the world. Richard took a moment to answer a few silly questions for us.
Q: Did you go to Public School? If so, did you ever get a swirly in the bathroom?
A: Yes I went to public in 7th & 8th grade. I attended William B. Ogden Elementary School in downtown Chicago. I don’t know about getting swirly in the bathroom, but we had an open campus for lunch and I was on safety patrol. I would skip out on going to my corner and instead be the first kid at the game room with my quarters lined up and already playing Donkey Kong at the neighborhood arcade.
Q: In 2008 you started Charles Lane Press. What do you hope to accomplish with this endeavor and what makes CLP different than other publishers?
A:We hope to be able to highlight work by photographers that have not yet had the opportunity to have their work published in the book form. We our looking to publish work that has not only strong aesthetics, but also a courageous and unpretentious point of view. We go the extra distance to make certain the printed page appears as close to the photographers vision and the printed image as possible. We use higher quality paper, binding materials, and print at the highest line screen possible.
Q: Do you ever want to do anything besides photography?
A: Yes. I’d like to climb some small mountain peaks in my lifetime. Next year I’m planing a hike up Mount Shasta. I also really enjoy cooking and more recently baking but I would never want to be in the restaurant business.
Q: Do you have any unusual forms of inspiration?
A: Chaos and Solitude.
Q: What are some of your favorite records of 2010?
A: LCD Soundsystem – This is happening
Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
Q: Who would win in a fight between Segal vs Van Damme?
A: The muscle from Brussels.
Thanks Richard!
