Raymond Carballada Photography

This series of black and white photographs explores Philadelphia through light and shadow, capturing the city's architecture, streets, and urban moments.  Each image explores how light reshapes the familiar, turning the city into a study of form and light. By using monochrome images, I emphasize the rawness of structures and spaces, allowing subtle tonal shifts and deep shadows to define the image's narrative.  Each image has an evolving vision, where the print is an extension of my creative process. Each image is printed on fine art paper, selected to enhance the image, inviting viewers to experience the city as a composition of tones, light and space.

For the 31 mornings of May 2024, I photographed the same Philadelphia skyline at sunrise from one fixed spot on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The camera never moved. Only the light changed, so no two mornings are ever the same.

At my gallery show, people saw the 31 prints of The Poetry of First Light as a single work of art. One reason is the print itself. I make and edition every piece by hand, then frame it without glass so the paper becomes the work. How The Poetry of First Light was printed and framed.

This series prioritizes geometry over subject, presenting city structures as abstract compositions in black and white. The focus is on form and space rather than recognizable locations. These images flatten the real into the graphic and minimalist view.

Images shot on 35 mm and 2 1/4 film. Then the negatives are scanned, digitally processed, and printed to retain the analog tonal richness and depth of film, while the digital workflow allows for a level of control not possible in a traditional darkroom.

This portrait series is inspired by the iconic style of Annie Leibovitz and reimagined through black-and-white images.

This portrait series is inspired by the iconic style of Annie Leibovitz and reimagined through black-and-white images.