Renell Medrano first picked up her mum’s point-and-shoot camera at 14, immediately turning it around on her close family and friends. Since then, the photographer and director from the Bronx has photographed everyone from Kendrick Lamar to Kendall Jenner, forever paying homage to her Dominican roots and New York upbringing. Now, she’s taking a moment to reflect on her career so far with a new exhibition called LAMBÓN, presented by WeTransfer and Water Street Projects.
Last week’s opening marked the artist‘s first exhibition in her home city since 2019, bringing together work from editorial projects through her creative collective Ice Studios (including a Solange appearance), alongside personal projects shot on trips to the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Egypt. Like everything Medrano touches, each photo tells a story with cinematic warmth, whether it’s of locals or her cohort of famous friends. “LAMBÓN is a reaction to the expected landscape of modern creativity – revealing places and people you think you know in their purest form and celebrating unseen perspectives for kids like me,” she says.
Below, she speaks to us about ushering in the beginning of a new chapter and asking her fans: will you be a leader or a lambón?
Lambón means an ass-kisser in Spanish. Why did you choose that title for the exhibition?
Renell Medrano: Straight to the point, I like this question. The word became a prompt for myself and my friends this year. It perfectly encapsulates everything we’re pushing up against, encouraging us to trust our creative instincts and dig deeper within our work. We began saying it to each other all the time, and it basically began to mean ‘go again’, something I’ve said to myself numerous times throughout my career. So, when it came time to think of a word that articulated the intention behind this exhibition, it felt fitting.
The exhibition includes a number of your editorial shoots. What‘s the biggest thing you’ve learned over the years about capturing a well-known celebrity and presenting them in a new way?
Renell Medrano: I have and continue to bring the same approach to people, whether they’re household names, models, or people not used to having their photographs taken. People from all walks of life are more behaviourally alike than we think. I aim to form a real connection with them, so what I feel is their true form can be captured in the image.
Tell me about the unseen personal projects in the exhibition. What piece were you most excited to finally share with your audience and why?
Renell Medrano: I’m excited about each image for a different reason, but the one that comes to mind would be from my trip to Egypt. That was a transformative time for me, and I feel that through the image. I’m also excited for people to see a lot of the work seen or unseen in print. Seeing something physically is a completely different experience to seeing something through a screen.
I imagine putting together an exhibition of this scale gave you many moments to reflect on your career so far. What would you like to explore further in the future?
Renell Medrano: It did. The whole exhibition feels like the celebration of a creative chapter and the beginning of a new one. There are many things in the ether that I’ll be able to discuss in time. Until I can, I’d like to say that I’m continuing to expand my creative output into the areas I love and care about and reimagining what’s expected for artists like me.
LAMBÓN is open to the public for free at WSA, New York, through November 2, 2024.