Doug Rickard (b. 1968)
#34.546147, Helena-West Helena, AR. 2008, 2010
Archival pigment print
20.5 x 33 in.
Gift of John Andrew MacMahon, Class of 1995
Before the days of travel restrictions and COVID-19 precautions, photographer Doug Rickard was already using technology to his advantage by capturing life in thousands of places without ever setting foot on an aircraft. #34.546147, Helena-West Helena, AR. 2008 along with the four other prints by Rickard in our collection depict hazy landscape images across the United States and all belong to Rickard’s project titled A New American Picture.
20.5 x 33 in.
Rickard captured these alluring prints over the course of four years without ever leaving the comfort of his home. By utilizing the “Street View” function on Google maps, Rickard travelled through suburbs, cities, and countryside outskirts of the US. Using his camera mounted upon a tripod, Rickard re-photographs scenes from Street View on his computer screen. Afterwards, he edits the grainy, low-resolution images to infuse them with new life.
Rickard’s colorful images remind me of flipping through old photo albums at my grandma’s home – where the faces and bodies of people often appear blurry or out of focus, yet each photograph is entirely illuminating as film was limited.
In #34.546147, Helena-West Helena, AR. 2008, we witness the early hours of a golden red sunrise over the tops of barren trees juxtaposed with a teal-green family home in the midst of winter. In sharing this collection of photographs, Rickard hoped to shed light on the “socially disenfranchised and economically powerless” groups that live in conjunction to the American Dream of wealthy society [1].
Throughout this series, Rickard draws attention to the fine line between safety surveillance provided by companies such as Google and the privacy each citizen is entitled. With new technologies surfacing every year, we often grow more accustomed to the concept of our data and information being shared among these companies.
Before Rickard began his work as an American artist and photographer, he studied United States history and sociology at the University of California, San Diego. He has exhibited his work nationally and internationally, and has been featured in noteworthy publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Time. Rickard’s work brings new meaning to the category of street photography. He continually pushes boundaries within his work to entice his audience to engage with current social issues like the growing gap in inequality and privacy. Rickard has also had his photography published in multiple books, and several images from his project “A New American Picture” are permanently held by the San Francisco MoMA.
Gabi Sarussi, ‘21
[1] “A NEW AMERICAN PICTURE.” Accessed October 1, 2020. https://dougrickard.com/a-new-american-picture/.