Richard Renaldi was born in Chicago, USA in 1968. He received a Bachelor's degree in photography from New York University in 1990. His works have been exhibited in many galleries around the world, like Third Floor Gallery, Cardiff, Wales (2012), Aperture Gallery, New York, NY (2014), Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, IL (2015) and more.

Besides "Touching Strangers", the photographer has released many other projects such as "Billions Served", "I Want Your Love", "Manhattan Sunday", "Fall River Boys", "Midnight Lobbies", "See America by Bus" and more.

In one of his interviews, Richard mentioned that he did all his casting right there on the street without setting up the portraits beforehand. Nothing was prearranged. This way he had less control over the process.

The photographer was looking for a connection. It would take him from 10 minutes to 5 hours to take a perfect shot.

The artist wanted to take affectionate pictures showing that these people are strangers but they could also be good friends. However, sometimes it was challenging to find someone eager to participate in a photoshoot. It takes courage to show intimate moments in front of a camera, even more so when one has to do that with a stranger!

What do you think, dear pandas? Would you be brave enough to get super close to a person you're seeing for the first time in your life?