Guided by Richard Renaldi, explore the evolution of self-portraits to selfies in the digital age while developing your own unique portfolio of self-representation.

There are no available registration dates at this time.

From the cave of Altamira to Albrecht Dürer, to Kim Kardashian, humans have endeavored to create their own facsimile. Once the concern of skilled artisans, the self-portrait in the digital age has been disseminated unto the untrained masses.

This workshop will contemplate that evolution, and reflect on the distances and similarities between the self-portrait and the selfie. Throughout the week we will study and discuss self-portraitists through slide presentations, lectures, discussions, individual meetings, and field trips. Students will be given a daily self-portrait assignment and are also expected to complete a separate small portfolio of self-portraits for a final critique.

Renaldi8 - By Richard Renaldi
Early self-portrait of Richard Renaldi.
Modern self-portrait of Richard Renaldi.

Participants will be encouraged to explore broad issues regarding self-representation, especially relating to intimacy, psychology, identity, and sensuality. Otherwise, technical comfort with your camera is the only prerequisite. A week prior to the class there will be an assignment sent by email – due on the first day.

Students should bring their own laptops to the workshop.

All images copyright Richard Renaldi.

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Instructor: Richard Renaldi

Richard Renaldi was born in Chicago in 1968. He received a BFA in photography from New York University in 1990. He is represented by Benrubi Gallery in New York and Robert Morat Galerie in Berlin. Five monographs of his work have been published, including Richard Renaldi: Figure and Ground (Aperture, 2006); Fall River Boys (Charles Lane Press, 2009); Touching Strangers (Aperture, 2014); Manhattan Sunday (Aperture, 2016); I Want Your Love (Super Labo, 2018). He was the recipient of a 2015 fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.