With a humanist understanding of a group so many choose not to notice, Renato Rampolla is a Florida-based artist best known for his “Dignity” series of photographs – a compilation of portraits of the people he encounters, most of them homeless, while walking the streets with his camera.

From roadsides to over-passes, makeshift camps to alleyways, Rampolla hears their stories and photographs their telling faces in cities across the country, with the artistic objective of capturing the light within. This eye-opening photographic exhibition serves to articulate the subject of human dignity: not just the dignity of the homeless, but of all of us, and our fundamental needs of belonging, love, respect, and kindness.

The son of figurative artist Frank Rampolla, Renato Rampolla evokes the heavy aspect of his father’s paintings while observing his subjects through the lens of humanity.

“I want my viewer to connect eye-to-eye with [the homeless], with their soul. I use a small lens and get less than a foot away because, to me, every wrinkle captured tells a story,” he says. “I want you to feel what they feel. With a bit of understanding, people can build on empathy and compassion.”