Richard Speedy
Richard Speedy
Dye Sublimation onto Aluminum
About
Richard Speedy grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, and his passion for photography began when he was given his first camera at age 6. Many of the earliest photos in the family scrapbook show him with a Kodak Brownie hanging around his neck. As the pages turn, he disappears more and more from view as he takes his place behind the lens of the family camera.
When he was eight years old, he made still-life images in his bedroom with his Kodak Brownie Hawkeye flash camera. These were primarily dioramas of imaginary and far-off places, along with studies of specimens he gathered from his explorations of the outside world.
After graduating from Princeton High School, Richard studied at the New York Institute of Photography. He later attended Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara during the wild and wired late 60’s. At Brooks, he majored in film-making before switching to still photography.
In 1972, he relocated to New York City, where he worked as an assistant to many of New York’s emerging advertising photographers, shooting everything from fashion to still-life to automobiles. Here, he learned the many aspects of running a successful commercial photography studio and began to find his voice in terms of visual expression.
During this period, he also worked on several personal projects. He received recognition for this work through two artist fellowships, one of which allowed him to continue working in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. David Shirey of the New York Times reviewed a show of the Pine Barrens work. In it, Shirey wrote…. "we might not see the same things Richard Speedy sees. Most of us do not have his poetic vision, instantaneous grasping of the beautiful in nature, or fantasy. At times, the pictures look like storybook images, as in one photograph of mushrooms with their long stalks and umbrella caps amidst a blur of plants; they are creatures of another world."
In 1980, with photographer Toby Richards, he opened Richards & Speedy Studio; for the next 25 years, he and Toby operated an advertising photography studio with a staff of skilled assistants, stylists, and darkroom technicians. The studio produced many award-winning images for clients, including Sony, J&J, Benetton, Mobil, and Lenox, to name a few. In 2005, Richard and Toby opened separate studios to explore personal projects more.
Since then, Richard has pursued various subjects and imaging possibilities in the studio and the world at large. He explains, "I have always felt a restless, unremitting drive to explore the world around me and its impact on the world within.”
Projects in the 21st century have included The Pine Barrens, Dancing Under the Moon, Relic, and Land Meets Sea. Portfolios of these and additional projects can be seen in the GALLERIES section of this website.
Fascinated by Mexico and the U.S. Southwest, Richard has lived in Sonora, Mexico, and Taos, New Mexico for extended periods. He currently resides in Hopewell, NJ.
