Foosaner Art Museum’s New Exhibition Features Richard Renaldi Photographs

‘Touching Strangers’ to Run March 19-May 14

MELBOURNE, FLA. — Since 2007, Richard Renaldi has worked on a series of photographs that involve him approaching and asking complete strangers to physically interact while posing together for a portrait.

The resulting exhibition, entitled Touching Strangers, will be on view at Florida Institute of Technology’s Foosaner Art Museum from March 19 through May 14.

Renaldi will give a presentation about his artwork at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 31.

Working on the street with a large-format, 8-by-10-inch view camera, Renaldi solicits subjects for his photographs in towns and cities across the United States and invites them to pose together, in ways that people are usually taught to reserve for their close friends and loved ones. He creates spontaneous and fleeting relationships between strangers for the camera, often pushing his subjects beyond their comfort levels. The resulting photographs are moving and provocative and raise profound questions about the possibilities for positive human connection in a diverse society.

Renaldi, born in Chicago in 1968, graduated from New York University with a bachelor’s degree in photography in 1990. He has presented solo exhibitions both in the United States and abroad, including at Fotografins Hus, Stockholm; Robert Morat Galerie, Hamburg, Germany; and Yossi Milo Gallery, New York. Renaldi’s work has also appeared in group exhibitions, including Strangers: The First ICP Triennial of Photography and Video at the International Center of Photography in New York in 2003.

For more information, contact Foosaner Art Museum at 321-674-8916 or visit www.foosanerartmuseum.org.

Photo Workshop

The public is invited to sign up for a workshop related to the Renaldi exhibition.

Jennifer Glass will offer Capturing the Decisive Moment, a portrait photography workshop from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 19 at the Renee Foosaner Education Center. The cost is $40 for Foosaner Art Museum members and $50 for non-members. Registration is available online at www.foosanerartmuseum.org, under the “Classes” tab.

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