TESTIMONIALS FOR RICH WEXLER VIEWMASTER
I have worked with Rich in several instances and all have been creatively enlightening. He has amazing vision for both presentation and creation. Rich had a month long show at my gallery that was very interactive and well received. As a photographer, he was very easy to deal with and made me feel very open and comfortable. - Reggie Bügmüncher - Sideshow Performer/Gallery Owner/Model
"Posing for Rich was delightful. I've known him for years and always appreciated his craft and his imagination. His vision for this shoot with a variety of backdrops. I was excited to shoot outdoors in our neighborhood, and I felt very comfortable with shooting indoors as well. Rich is a true professional and I am very pleased to be a part of his work. " - Lauren Moatz - Model
Rich Wexler is one of the kindest, most generous, interesting, talented, and open people I know. He has dedicated his life to helping people who might consider themselves "weird" or "different" or "strange" or many other things find their place and feel like they belong in the world. He builds community with his art and his life, and welcomes open dialogue about so much... and his art reflects all these things that make him a beautiful part of our city. - Catherine Averill
Rich Wexler is a guy who has of a heck of a golden heart. I've seen him create just to create, to push his passions further even in the face of defeat &, all the while donating & growing a community where many others are just out for themselves. - Kiki Berlin - Model
While hipster art is milking its last drops of nostalgia out of our our parents' unselfconscious, made-in-the-USA lifestyles and Diane Arbus's disquiet legacy has been marketed into intellectual, coffee-table-commodity, it is particularly satisfying to view work like Rich's, that documents our endangered counterculture from the inside, capturing pictures of its rare inhabitants that are funny, expressive, and honest. His photos are nostalgia-laden depictions served raw. Simultaneously, they are delightfully sincere and representative of his personal tastes and interests.
His photographs are unsettlingly familiar, as though he stole them from an aunt's mantle or a discontinued elementary schoolbook. Like false memories, our subconscious tells us we had to have been there, but the fact of the matter is that Rich's photo's are his alone. They're the outpouring of his imagination, vision, and love of expression and the beauty of a land inhabited by genuine rebels, freaks, and friends. He conjures an America that is wild and weird, and steadily becoming less accessible and honest, but that we get to visit through his photography. We collect souvenirs of our time there, and wistfully smile and daydream about the things he showed us. - Gwendolyn Rooker - Artist/ Performer
It was a fantastic experience working with Rich. The photo session felt like a true collaboration, a lot of ideas were explored and Rich had a nice array of various cameras at his disposal including a 3-D one! We had some great conversations about art and and photography. All in all the session felt very organic and Rich captured some great images. Not being a regular model I wasn’t sure how the photos would turn out but the results were awesome and I got a tremendous response after posting them on Instagram. If you get a chance to work with Rich do it, you will not be disappointed plus he’s a swell guy. - Jim Tozzi - artist NY
I was inspired by his love of grassroots festal culture and processional arts, his passion for social service and working with undeserved communities, and his truly irresistible medium of, primarily, 3D View-Master photography.
When we met Rich in person, he photographed my seven- and eight-year-old children. I admired his easy manner and humor with kids, and how much he taught them about his equipment and process. Setting up lights in the kids' tiny, South Philly rowhouse bedrooms as the they pillaged their dress-up bins, all three were soon singing along with David Bowie and Hedwig, and this session produced what is without question my favorite photo of my children ever taken so far in their lives.
Rich's history of community work with young people stands as a testament to his current and future endeavors. His goal to create a sustainable studio that will allow him -- among other things -- to provide workshops and promotional photography for creative people who would otherwise have no such opportunities, makes me proud to be in Philadelphia, and grateful that Rich Wexler is too. - Amber Dorko Stopper
co-founder, Krampuslauf Philadelphia:Parade of Spirits, Liberty Lands
Rich came in and worked with my students at Philadelphia School of Rock and was incredible. He not only has an incredible amount of skill with a camera (his composition and use color/contrast is amazing) he was, kind, patient and gentle with our kids. He gave clear concise direction and, most importantly, my students had a blast. - Michaela DeBenedicts/School Of Rock Philadelphia
My family is overjoyed that we hired Rich Wexler and New Castro Photogaphy as photographer for our daughter's bat mitzvah. We wanted a photographer who would document the rather non-traditional celebration by capturing the excitement of the event, not relying on staid "table shots" but instead taking the initiative, and caring enough, to use photography to catch the natural moments of joy, of loving family and shared community, that defined the day. From the beginning of the process Rich listened to us completely and was eager to provide the photography we wanted. We couldn't have been happier with the results. After the event Rich not only processed the photos quickly but continued to provide options that would enhance our friends' and relatives' ability to enjoy the images. We look forward to hiring Rich and New Castro Photography again and again. - Jay Sand/ Dad
I really cannot say enough great things about Rich- from his personality to his amazing photography skills. He was very honest when I initially asked him if he would be interested in photographing my wedding in that he hadn’t done many weddings. Rich turned out to be exactly what I was looking for. He made sure we were both clear on every single detail of what I wanted and what he felt that he was able to provide. He worked with me on pricing, and remained so open-minded and easy to work with the entire time which alleviated so much pre-wedding stress. I am still very thankful for that! Rich was amazing on the day of the wedding- he showed up on time and ready to go! He was willing to be directed for the shots that I and my bridal party wanted and took some really awesome candid shots. Rich was just so awesome to work with. My guests even made mention of how great and personable he was. It was so hot and he never stopped moving and switching between three different cameras to make sure he got the perfect shots. He was editing in the moment and he sent me the pictures super fast! He was open to editing any of the the pictures how I wanted, and again, they all turned out so great! Working with Rich was a great experience and I would definitely work with him again in the future! - Lauren Cramphorn - bride
His photographs are unsettlingly familiar, as though he stole them from an aunt's mantle or a discontinued elementary schoolbook. Like false memories, our subconscious tells us we had to have been there, but the fact of the matter is that Rich's photo's are his alone. They're the outpouring of his imagination, vision, and love of expression and the beauty of a land inhabited by genuine rebels, freaks, and friends. He conjures an America that is wild and weird, and steadily becoming less accessible and honest, but that we get to visit through his photography. We collect souvenirs of our time there, and wistfully smile and daydream about the things he showed us. - Gwendolyn Rooker - Artist/ Performer
It was a fantastic experience working with Rich. The photo session felt like a true collaboration, a lot of ideas were explored and Rich had a nice array of various cameras at his disposal including a 3-D one! We had some great conversations about art and and photography. All in all the session felt very organic and Rich captured some great images. Not being a regular model I wasn’t sure how the photos would turn out but the results were awesome and I got a tremendous response after posting them on Instagram. If you get a chance to work with Rich do it, you will not be disappointed plus he’s a swell guy. - Jim Tozzi - artist NY
I was inspired by his love of grassroots festal culture and processional arts, his passion for social service and working with undeserved communities, and his truly irresistible medium of, primarily, 3D View-Master photography.
When we met Rich in person, he photographed my seven- and eight-year-old children. I admired his easy manner and humor with kids, and how much he taught them about his equipment and process. Setting up lights in the kids' tiny, South Philly rowhouse bedrooms as the they pillaged their dress-up bins, all three were soon singing along with David Bowie and Hedwig, and this session produced what is without question my favorite photo of my children ever taken so far in their lives.
Rich's history of community work with young people stands as a testament to his current and future endeavors. His goal to create a sustainable studio that will allow him -- among other things -- to provide workshops and promotional photography for creative people who would otherwise have no such opportunities, makes me proud to be in Philadelphia, and grateful that Rich Wexler is too. - Amber Dorko Stopper
co-founder, Krampuslauf Philadelphia:Parade of Spirits, Liberty Lands
Rich came in and worked with my students at Philadelphia School of Rock and was incredible. He not only has an incredible amount of skill with a camera (his composition and use color/contrast is amazing) he was, kind, patient and gentle with our kids. He gave clear concise direction and, most importantly, my students had a blast. - Michaela DeBenedicts/School Of Rock Philadelphia
My family is overjoyed that we hired Rich Wexler and New Castro Photogaphy as photographer for our daughter's bat mitzvah. We wanted a photographer who would document the rather non-traditional celebration by capturing the excitement of the event, not relying on staid "table shots" but instead taking the initiative, and caring enough, to use photography to catch the natural moments of joy, of loving family and shared community, that defined the day. From the beginning of the process Rich listened to us completely and was eager to provide the photography we wanted. We couldn't have been happier with the results. After the event Rich not only processed the photos quickly but continued to provide options that would enhance our friends' and relatives' ability to enjoy the images. We look forward to hiring Rich and New Castro Photography again and again. - Jay Sand/ Dad
I really cannot say enough great things about Rich- from his personality to his amazing photography skills. He was very honest when I initially asked him if he would be interested in photographing my wedding in that he hadn’t done many weddings. Rich turned out to be exactly what I was looking for. He made sure we were both clear on every single detail of what I wanted and what he felt that he was able to provide. He worked with me on pricing, and remained so open-minded and easy to work with the entire time which alleviated so much pre-wedding stress. I am still very thankful for that! Rich was amazing on the day of the wedding- he showed up on time and ready to go! He was willing to be directed for the shots that I and my bridal party wanted and took some really awesome candid shots. Rich was just so awesome to work with. My guests even made mention of how great and personable he was. It was so hot and he never stopped moving and switching between three different cameras to make sure he got the perfect shots. He was editing in the moment and he sent me the pictures super fast! He was open to editing any of the the pictures how I wanted, and again, they all turned out so great! Working with Rich was a great experience and I would definitely work with him again in the future! - Lauren Cramphorn - bride
