Beauty of Decay

Richard Berenholtz received his master’s degree in architecture from Columbia University in 1974 and spent 10 years as a designer working for major New York City firms including I.M. Pei and Partners. During that time, his interest of photography became a passion leading to three one-man shows of his black and white work in New York galleries.

Richard left architecture in 1984 to pursue a full-time career as a commercial photographer, specializing in architecture, landscapes and cityscapes. His work evolved from black and white to color, and he started using a panoramic camera to capture breathtakingly wide views of the city he loves so much, New York. In 1986 he was chosen by the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Foundation to be the Official Photographer for the Statue’s Centennial Celebration.

Richard Berenholtz has had seven books published. The first, Manhattan Architecture, was published in five languages and sold over 50,000 copies. The second, Inside New York, was produced in hardcover as well as paperback, and is still in print. The third, Panoramic New York, is now in its fourth printing. The fourth, New York New York, is the largest photography book ever done on the city, and is now available in an updated mid-sized, and mini-edition, which has sold more than 100,000 copies to date. It has also been published in French, and Italian. The fifth book was New York Architecture. His sixth book, New York Deco, was originally published in 2005, and was rereleased for 2008 in a revised deluxe edition. Richard’s seventh book, Skylines of New York, was released in April of 2020.

Publishers Weekly, in a review of New York New York wrote: “Even the most jaded photo connoisseur will find Berenholtz’s full skyline panoramas breathtaking.” And Time Out New York said: “From its arresting close-ups to its glorious panoramic skylines, the book is a tour de force that defies superlatives.”

In 2006 Richard created the photographs for the NYC 2012 Olympic Games bid book, which were again used by the New York Olympic Committee for the final presentation in Singapore. His photographs were also chosen to represent New York City in the International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale in 2006. In May of 2009, Richard had a major retrospective of his work exhibited at the Castle Callenberg Museum in Coburg Germany. It is now on permanent display.

In 2011 Richard became the designated photographer for the new One World Trade Center (Freedom Tower) for Durst and the Port Authority.

For the past 5 years, Richard has been photographing the abandoned and decaying buildings and architecture in the Tri-State area, and has thus far documented approximately 70 of them. A book of these locations is presently in the works.

During the last 37 years, Mr. Berenholtz has produced what is considered to be one of the most comprehensive collections of contemporary photographs of New York City. His fine art work is displayed in numerous corporate and residential collections, and installations.