Remember This House
Remember This House is a visual allegory interpreted through the lens of vintage Polaroid cameras and expired instant film. Imagined, staged, and photographed in the Summer of 2012 at the former West 24th Street studio of Richard Avedon, with additional images from Hotel Chelsea (West 23rd Street), and the surrounding neighborhoods.
The setting is Hotel Chelsea with a cast of three characters whose temperament are that of New York City - tough, kind, and smart. A mass of antlers speaks to the shedding of past seasons and power; while masks act as shields, protection, and transformation. The raw, rough-hewn beauty of the objects are presented as a supporting cast, echoing the spirit of the hotel and city.
Remember This House speaks to the spectrum of the human experience, while weaving themes of subtle regret, melancholy, reflection, and emotional realization.
Not everything that is faced can be changed,
but nothing can be changed until it is faced.
Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot
live without, and know we cannot live within.
- James Baldwin
The online presentation previews the first twelve images from the project Remember This House - selected from approximately one hundred photographs executed in 2012, printed in 2025. The unique 4 1/2 x 3 2/5 inch Polaroids were scanned with the frame, cropped to the image size 3 1/8 x 3 1/16 inches, and printed up to 10 times their original size.
The project was named after the title of an unfinished personal manuscript by American writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin, which was sold to McGraw-Hill. Following Baldwin's 1987 death, the publisher sued his estate to recover the advance they had paid him - the lawsuit was subsequently suspended. The memoir remains unreleased.
Click image to enlarge —
Summer Clouds
Hotel Chelsea
Untitled 2
Untitled 31
Untitled 1
Iron Stairwell
Untitled 46
Untitled 34
Untitled 3
Dried Okra
Untitled 32
Hydrangea
All images and content presented herein copyright R U H L.
Reproduction requests are granted without discrimination. High resolution files available.
All inquires may be directed to: ruhl@ruhl.nyc
© R U H L 2025
All rights reserved