Frank Relle
American photographer
Frank Relle (born 1976) is an American photographer who lives and works in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Best known for his long-exposure photographs of New Orleans architecture at night, Relle received national and international attention in early 2005 with "New Orleans Nightscapes." The series depicted, among its architectural subjects, homes in New Orleans’ 9th Ward in varying states of decay and dilapidation following Hurricane Katrina. Using a combination of high-pressure sodium, mercury vapor, and daylight-balanced hot lights to illuminate his subjects, Relle bathes his images in haunting color and light that invite the viewer to slow down and to see the familiar as uncanny.
Relle's work is featured in the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. His photographs have been printed in The New Yorker, The Southern Review, and Oxford American, as well as many other regional, national, and international publications. He is also the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2007 International Photography Award and the 2019 Michael P. Smith Award for Documentary Photography. Relle was also included in Photolucida's Critical Mass Top 50 Photographers lists in 2007 and 2010.
Career
After graduating from Tulane University with degrees in cognitive science and philosophy, Relle accompanied Gannt Boswell on a research trip to Canada to study and photograph carnivorous plants. He then went to New York City to study photography, where he worked as an assistant to renowned photographers Mary Ellen Mark and Arnold Newman. While working on movie sets and in photography studios, Relle gained a new understanding of lighting.
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