Renell Medrano

Renell showcasing the brand new Ice Studios x Timbaland release

Renell was born and raised in the Bronx. At just 14 years old, she began photographing friends and strangers using her mother’s point-and-shoot camera—a formative period that shaped her sensitivity to everyday beauty. She studied photography at Parsons School of Design, earning her BFA in 2014. Her thesis project, "Untitled Youth", documented four teenage girls from the Bronx over two years. It earned her the New York Times Lens Blog Award. By 2017, she was featured in "The Next Generation of Bronx Photographers" exhibition. Her 2019 solo exhibition “Peluca” at Milk Gallery explored wig culture through the lens of her Bronx upbringing—photographing salons as emotional safe spaces for Black and Hispanic women and challenging stigma.

Since then, her portfolio has expanded to include editorial and fashion collaborations with brands and artists like Nike, Fenty Beauty, Burberry, Vogue, Kendrick Lamar, and more.