Street Photography nominee

“The Backlight City” focuses on life in the city, including Budapest, Porto, New York, Casablanca and Chefchaouen. In these photographs, I shoot into the light source, whether direct or reflected, and people are transformed into mysterious shadowy figures, and objects break into primitive shapes and lines. The silhouettes become abstractions, graphic forms with little or no details, yet we are able to discern gender, age and maybe even their purpose at that moment. The images include aspects of minimalism, street photography and architectural photography.

Eric M Renard (www.ericrenardphotography.com) is a Los Angeles based fine art photographer and one of California's leading contemporary photographers. His passion for photography was ignited at Tufts University in Boston, where he studied photography under Siegfried Halus. After graduating, Eric returned to San Francisco and worked as an architectural real estate photographer before moving to Los Angeles, where he works as an Art Director for advertising.

Eric Renard's recent exhibitions "Slice of Light", "Nobody Walks in L.A.", "Soul of a City" and "Urbanity in Black and White" focused on high contrast, urban cityscapes, creating an eerie feeling of tranquility. The landscape is the hero in these images, with the people subject to the power of their surroundings.

Eric's photography has found its way into art galleries in London, Barcelona, Budapest, Athens, Mexico, Brazil, New York, Texas, Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Connecticut and across California. His photography has received numerous Best of Show awards and has been published in both books and photography magazines, including the cover of Black & White magazine.

He is a managing director of The Artists Gallery in Los Angeles and on the Board of the California Art League and San Fernando Valley Arts and