We get a bit emotional on these topics, but photography is changing, again, and this time I think we need to start changing our language and expectations around what makes a photo a photo. Is it analog vs digital? is it studio vs real world? is it something about the craft? can it involve AI?

For six years, San Francisco photographer Jake Ricker has shown up at the Golden Gate Bridge almost every single day, shooting the people who pass through it on 35mm film. It's not a landscape project — Ricker treats the bridge as a stage for the "diverse human experiences" that unfold on it, an interior, lived-in view of a landmark most people only ever see from the outside.

Ricker's path to this project wasn't conventional: originally from Mesa, Arizona, he moved to San Francisco about a decade ago and worked as a bike messenger, which put him on the city's streets daily and sharpened the observational instincts he later brought to the bridge. He describes the scale of the commitment bluntly: "I've walked half the surface of the Earth on that bridge."

The project has come at real personal cost. Ricker has accumulated over 1,000 rolls of undeveloped film and has taken on credit card debt trying to sustain the work, at one point running a print sale specifically to fund processing costs and catch up on rent — a detail that grounds the episode in the realities of pursuing a long-term personal project without institutional support (he notes he'd hoped for a grant that never came).

The work is headed toward a photo book titled "Strange Paradise," and the conversation situates Ricker's documentary approach alongside photographers Rubin and Fritz-Hanson clearly see as kindred influences: Jim Goldberg (raw, socially-embedded documentary work from 1980s San Francisco and Hollywood) and Mary Ellen Mark (empathetic, unflinching portraits of marginal lives). Those references suggest the episode's throughline is less about bridge photography specifically and more about sustained, immersive, documentary presence in one place over time.

Topic Outline

Intro

• Framing: why a 6-year daily bridge project is worth an episode; introducing Jake Ricker

Origin story

• Ricker's move from Mesa, AZ to San Francisco
• Bike messenger years as a precursor to street photography

The project itself

• Why the bridge — daily presence, 35mm film
• Capturing "interior" human moments vs. exterior/iconic shots

The cost of the work

• 1,000+ unprocessed rolls of film
• Credit card debt
• The print sale
• Lack of grant support

The book

• "Strange Paradise" — compiling six years of work into a photo book

Influences / context

• Discussion of Jim Goldberg and Mary Ellen Mark as documentary touchstones

Reflection

• Ricker's "walked half the surface of the Earth" quote — scale and meaning of repetition

Close

• Likely wrap-up / where to find Ricker's work

Where to see the work: jakericker.com / jakericker.bigcartel.com

Arthur Drooker spends his career photographing the quirky, overlooked corners of American culture — clown conventions, Bronies, Lincoln impersonators — treating them with documentary rigor but real affection, most notably in his project "Conventional Wisdom." He also works in more classical documentary registers, including "American Ruins" and his own bridge project, "36 Views of the Golden Gate Bridge." The episode touches on his creative philosophy — captured in his line "don't be afraid to go sideways, because it may turn out to be 'the thing'" — and situates his eye alongside photographers like Walker Evans, Elliott Erwitt, and Robert Frank.

Topic Outline

Intro

• Framing: introducing Arthur Drooker and his body of work
• Rubin's history with Drooker's "Conventional Wisdom" project

Career overview

• Drooker's documentary style: quirky, overlooked corners of culture approached with humor and insight
• How his work reveals connection and identity within niche communities

"Conventional Wisdom" project

• Photographing gatherings like the Association of Lincoln Presenters, World Clown Association convention, BronyCon
• The appeal of documenting subcultures without mockery

Creative philosophy

• Drooker's line: "Don't be afraid to go sideways, because it may turn out to be 'the thing'"
• His friend's editing mantra: "Write with fire; edit with ice"

Other bodies of work

• "American Ruins" — decayed architecture and abandoned spaces (e.g. Louisiana cottage ruins, Chichen Itza)
• "36 Views of the Golden Gate Bridge" — his own bridge project, sold out

Influences / context

• Discussion of Walker Evans, Elliott Erwitt, and Robert Frank as touchstones

Current show

• Mention of his gallery exhibition at The Image Flow Photo Center (running through April 4)

Close

• Likely wrap-up / where to find Drooker's work

Where to see the work: arthurdrooker.com