Poseidon DAO meets the artist Paulo Renftle

On 31 October, Poseidon DAO held a Twitter space with photographer Paulo Renftle, who recently landed on SuperRare with the first work in the Afterlife series. 

Unlike previous meetings, the focus was not only on the artist but also gave space to explain Poseidon DAO’s draft whitepaper and comment on the open edition that took place on Manifold in the previous hours, which sold out in less than half an hour.

In particular, Poseidon explained how the open edition it launched, and those that will follow, are not only intended to introduce talented emerging artists, but also to distribute the tokens that the DAO will issue to the community. Purchasing one of the open editions of the Poseidon Deploy Collection either in the primary market or in the secondary market will entitle people to receive a free airdrop of Poseidon DAO tokens.

Paulo Renftle

Paulo Renftle, started his career as a photographer at a very young age, then went on to work with several luxury brands including Armani and Valentino in fashion, Lamborghini for supercars, and many other high-end watch and jewelry brands.

Growing up in a family that was passionate about art (his mother was an artist), he had the opportunity to come into contact with the artistic world from an early age. In his work he is inspired by photographer Irving Penn in his use of light, while for shadows he draws on the 17th-century artist and printmaker Rembrandt. 

After a brief stint as a painter when he was young, Renftle became interested in photography in his early twenties, working in different parts of the world, from Bali to Singapore to Bangkok, eventually returning to Italy, where he established himself in high fashion and luxury photography in general.

Renftle, during the AMA, clarified the difference between his commercial work and his personal work. There is a distinction mainly in the process. When he shoots for brands he always tries to communicate his idea and vision, but very often he is limited by the demands of clients. 

These limitations can also be a source of impatience since, at a certain point in one’s career, when the ideas are clear and so is the direction, one wants to build something unique. On the other hand, when he photographs for himself, Renftle is able to fully express his ideas, to capture the beauty of his subjects, because, as he himself says, “there is always a need for beauty in life, where beauty means not only what creates the wow effect but especially what makes you feel like a child again.” His personal projects also include the creation of a short video, Trust in Me, minted on Foundation in collaboration with Poseidon DAO.

AfterLife Project

The Afterlife Project began with the intention of creating a series of personal works for a book about his 20-year professional career. The photoshoot for the book, which was done entirely in Sicily, required a tremendous amount of work both on and off the water and focused mainly on finding the best position to get the perfect image in terms of the contrast between the movement of the water and the sun’s rays. 

The biggest challenge was then to recreate the same contrasting conditions between the light and the water in the studio, and to do this the photographer used laser effects and a smoke machine. By playing with angles and movements, he was able to achieve photos that capture an almost classical sensuality, without ever blurring into vulgar imagery. The first work in the series, purchased by Poseidon, will be followed by other works that will soon be minted on SuperRare.