Jordanne Renner: 1655 Ireland Rd

Jordanne Renner: 1655 Ireland Rd by Vicente CayuelaSeptember 15, 2025

This week on Lenscratch, we’re focusing on projects that explore family and community. Today, the focus is on artist Jordanne Renner’s series 1655 Ireland Rd., a multilayered photographic study of family relationships. Collaborating with her family members, Renner photographs their domestic spaces using an 80mm lens and square-format 6×6 film. She then prints these images as c-prints and ships them to their relatives, who in turn respond with writing and notes over the images. Their musings range form the comical (“This is the cat’s view from thefront door”) and the mundane (“Cigars,” “Butter, Egg’s above”), to intimate moments of kinship and affection (“To sit here with your dad and talk is the most relaxed I can be.”) The project is an exciting exploration of how objects, memory and traditions shape our family histories.

Artist. Educator. Traveler. Creative. Jordanne Renner is a multidisciplinary portrait artist working primarily in large format film photography, figurative sculpture, mixed media paintings, public art, and installation. Her investigations often center on the Self, culture of place, the body and landscape, food, and the psychology of memory. She is a grant and fellowship recipient from the Puffin Foundation, Edwin Austin Abbey Mural, FotoFocus Biennials, and GCAC, and a proud member of the National League of American Pen Women. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Society for Photographic Education and its Executive Committee (2019–2024). Prior to that, she spent a decade on the DC Council for the Wexner Center for the Arts and the Pizzuti Collection. Since 2008, Jordanne has been teaching as full-time adjunct faculty under varied tenures while pursuing freelance projects including curation, bespoke events, art direction, photo/graphic arts, and commissioned works for private collections. A wildly energetic presence, she holds a BFA (RISD) and an MFA (OSU) and is deeply committed to community engagement—working on initiatives that dismantle food deserts, support social justice, education, and arts outreach. Travel, authentic encounters, Earthing, and investigations into history, quantum physics, and societal pressures all inform her practice.

Instagram: @jordannerenner

Self-Portrait. Courtesy the artist.

1655 Ireland Rd

1655 Ireland Rd began as a photographic observation, conversation, and diary of the family dynamic during my undergraduate years away, with the intention of revisiting the process every 23 years. The photographs became one-of-a-kind objects layered with time and comments, offering insight into individual personalities and relationships within the immediate members of my alternative/modern family.

I am a “product of divorce,” disowned and estranged by my biological mother and that entire side of the family, raised by my Dad as I entered adolescence. I had a relationship with my Kate (stepmom, whom I always referred to as “my Kate,” never stepmother) longer than I did with my “mom.” At the time of these images, I went from being a younger sister, to an only child, to an older step-sister.

This journey of relationship and family, through the photographic object, became a vessel for my collection of those who guided me through life’s adversity. I became the silent observer, ushering them to see what is presented in both public and private spaces—what we collect, how we present spaces, and ultimately, how we present ourselves.

When I began this visual conversation-portrait, the intention was to revisit this model every twenty-three years. Twenty-three is an important number that has repeatedly shown itself to each of us. For example, I was born on the 23rd day of the month, in the 23rd hour of the day. Another quirky connection: my favorite number is 23, as is my younger step-brother’s, and both my Dad and Kate also share this as a favorite number—something none of us realized until Dave and Kate built 1655 Ireland Rd.

You’re using lots of layering and text on this project. Where did the idea stem from?

Jordanne Renner: Portraits of people through place and objects have been a constant for me since I was given my first camera. Writing short notes and sending mail were always part of my family dynamic and my Self. Learning about photographers like Duane Michals—who paired words with images—was encouraging in my Contemporary Photo History class. Before that, I hadn’t considered it a possibility for “art.”

So, I began formally photographing family members through their objects, placement, décor, and aesthetic in the most unbiased manner possible that an 80mm lens and square format 6×6 film could offer. It was important to explore each space at different times of year and day, as light and objects shifted. After processing the film, I made C-41 prints without color balancing, then FedEx’d them home for the family to respond to. They would FedEx them back, and I’d send more images—sometimes with prompts, sometimes not.

This back-and-forth continued over several years, sparking both tension and humor. I became fascinated by how my family responded—pen, marker, neat or messy handwriting, on the photograph itself or covering elements with post-it notes, or sometimes keeping the image “precious.”

How do you approach writing in your photographs—more intentionally, or more like automatic/stream-of-consciousness?

JR: It’s a reactionary process. I don’t pre-conceive or workshop what I want to write. It feels like writing postcards, or pulling an article and jotting a note on it before folding and sending.

How does shooting in domestic spaces enhance the narrative quality of the work?

JR: I feel that as long as the participant doesn’t alter their space before the shoot, the result is more revealing and true than a classical portrait. The investigation of objects, placement, and color is deeply honest to who someone is, reflecting both their public and private selves.

Tell me a little bit about your process. How long does it take to make one of these photographs?

JR: It’s a long process. This series went through several iterations of image selection, print size, surface, and correspondence before I settled on a format. Even now, I’m not sure the “best” image was always chosen—it was simply what felt right at the time. Time is precious; I couldn’t linger too long.

I also avoided steering my Dad and Kate’s writing too much. My prompts were general, sometimes pointed—“What’s your first response to seeing this space printed at this scale?”—but never directive.

The photographs are housed in the original 16×20 Kodak C-41 paper boxes, covered in residue, tape, and FedEx airbills. These vessels of transportation became portraits themselves. Sadly, I don’t have photographs of the boxes to share.

What’s the biggest challenge or realization you’ve had working on this project?

JR: When photographs of spaces caused conflict—if they didn’t reflect how someone wanted to be seen—they sometimes became problematic to share publicly. This surprised me, but I understood. Even without correspondences, I’ve had subjects ask me not to use certain images because they didn’t feel authentic to them. We all have moments like this, even more so today with digital snapshots.

Where have you been finding inspiration lately?

JR: The world around me inspires me! I love observing, from the grand scale down to tiny details—like a four-leaf clover or a brilliantly colored feather. Meeting new people, learning something new, or reading (mostly non-fiction) sparks ideas.

What’s next for you?
JR: Who knows where the wind will take me next! I’m not a five-year-plan type of person—though maybe I should reconsider now in my mid-forties. For now, I love keeping my hands in many creative pots.

I’m finishing a large public mural with fellow artists in Hoboken, working on a commissioned large-scale painting, teaching adjunct courses in drawing, graphics, interactive media, and photo/alt processes, and continuing ongoing series like Model Portrait: A Community of Interest.

What’s next? I’m open—let’s do this! Yeow!