travors:

There’s something wonderfully awkward about the subjects in Richard Renaldi’s Touching Strangers:

The premise of this work is simple: I meet two or more people on the street who are strangers to each other, and to me. I ask them if they will pose for a photograph together with the stipulation that they must touch each other in some manner. Frequently, I instruct or coach the subjects how to touch. Just as often, I let their tentative physical exploration play out before my camera with no interference. (…) Touching Strangers encourages viewers to think about how we relate physically to one another, and to entertain the possibility that there is unlimited potential for new relationships with almost everybody passing by.

Some of the subjects seem very tense, while others seem completely at ease, as if they’ve been friends for years. For instance, in Andrea and Christian (slide 30 on the above link; fucking permalink-killing flash interfaces!), a topless girl is leaning into the chest of a man, and they both look into the camera smiling. If I didn’t know the background, I’d have sworn they were a couple, but when I do, I can possibly detect a little unease beneath the surface. These are wonderful photographs, and it’s hard to choose only one. See them all.

(Via dailymeh)

(Source: dailymeh)