Sonia, Zach, Raekwon, and Antonio, 2011, Tampa, FL
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

Touching Strangers Creates and Captures Fleeting Relationships

Two kids and two adults perch on a bed in an anonymous Florida hotel in Richard Renaldi’s striking photographic portrait.

Their body language shifts every time you look back. Are they relaxed or tense? Friendly or feuding? A hidden piece of information explains why the subtext is so hard to read: these people aren’t an actual family. In fact, they just met moments ago.

Renaldi’s project Touching Strangers investigates the complex chemistry of fleeting relationships. What happens when people who don’t know each other pose as friends, lovers, or family members?

Tom, Alaina, and Charlie, 2012, San Francisco, CA
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

Do appearances reflect reality? Or maybe they create it?

Sometimes When We Touch

The basics of the project are simple: Renaldi finds two or more strangers and asks them to pose together. The eloquent, complex results are on display at Aperture Gallery in New York City through May 15, 2014.

Asking strangers to assume intimate poses creates an obviously unnatural situation. Nerves and awkwardness are a common first response, and are frequently reflected in subtle body language in the final portrait.

Nathan and Robyn, 2012, Provincetown, MA
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

Yet many of the portraits create an uncanny sense of reality. How can this relationship be a put-on?

Donna and Donna, 2012, Craig, CO
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

Even though the relationship is artificially constructed, by the time Renaldi snaps the photo, the relationship may not be fake after all. This insight became an “Oh, I see” moment for both Renaldi and the participants.

Atiljan and Tiffany, 2011, New York, NY
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

Getting to Know You

Renaldi uses a large format 8-by-10-inch-view camera for his portraits, in part because he prefers the quality of the resulting images, and in part because the process itself takes time, and time creates comfort.

Tari, Shawn, and Summer, 2012, Los Angeles, CA
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

Unlike a quick digital snapshot, the large format camera requires a slower pace. While Renaldi is setting up, the subjects have time to talk and relax. By the time he begins taking pictures, some of the strangeness of the situation is already worn off.

In May, Aperture Foundation will publish Touching Strangers, a large-format book documenting the project.

In the Afterword, Renaldi shares how he began to understand the value of the slowed-down photographic process in creating space for a personal connection to take place:

“On completing one of these photographs, there was often the feeling that something rare and unrepeatable had just occurred.”

Michael and Kimberly, 2011, New York, NY
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

Stranger Things Have Happened

This video of Renaldi at work shows how his constructed poses swiftly segue from distance and discomfort into real, if temporary, relationships.

If the video does not display, watch it here.

Come Together

Renaldi delights in combining subjects from different backgrounds to create his instant families.

Vincent and Charles, 2012, Los Angeles, CA
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

The juxtapositions arouse human, and humane, questions. What’s a family, anyway?

Kiya and Simon, 2012, New York, NY
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

Which pairs are lovers? Which pairs are friends? Can you always tell the difference?

I’m a Stranger Here Myself

The Touching Strangers project has been enthusiastically received as word of mouth has spread, and, not surprisingly, a lot of people want to get involved.

The photographer who stages connections
invites others to join in.
© Richard Renaldi

Renaldi has received many requests from people who want to recreate his process and find their own “Oh, I see” moments.

Now, he’s found a way to include his fans contributions. All you need is a camera and the courage to say “Hello” to some complete strangers.

Using Twitter, people who’d like to join the project can send their own pictures of strangers to hashtag #TouchingStrangers.

Richard will check the feed regularly and select favorite photos to be displayed alongside his own at the Aperture exhibit.

As the Touching Strangers project evolves, Richard Renaldi has found surprisingly rich ways to preserve the flash and spark in fleeting relationships.

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