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Jake Ricker

@jake_ricker

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📍San Francisco Ⓥ
6 Years Documenting The Golden Gate Bridge Daily
Working On A Photo Book Titled "Strange Paradise"
👇 ALMOST SOLD OUT 2020 ZINE 👇

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A year ago today I shared this project for the first time. It’s been 2 and a half years out there. Over 3,500 miles walked and about 1,300 rolls of film shot. Here are probably the last 10 random photos I’ll share before the book is done. A thank you to everyone who has donated or picked up a mystery print to help support this project. Everything is almost on it’s way. Thank you!

Update as of 8-2023…
Almost 6 years out there now.
Over 10,000 miles walked.
Over 3,000 rolls shot.
Within all that I’ve help prevent over 80 suicides just from looking like a tourist with a camera doing my laps and spotting people that looked off.
The hardest and most rewarding 5 years of my life. taken in Golden Gate Bridge by @jake_ricker

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6 years ago

Swipe & Read. This month marks 3 years on the bridge working on this book. I’ve walked about 5,000 miles and shot 2,000 rolls of film. Been a crazy year doing 7 days a week at about 8 hours each day. I’ve never worked so hard on anything in my life. Hands down the most meaningful journey I’ve ever embarked on. My plan is to shoot for one more year and then do the book. I could stop now but I really want to make it great. Here are 10 more random photos for my 3 year anniversary. If you like this project please spread the word. As I wrap up on this final year I need all the help I can get. I’ve been looking into a grant/funding for years with no luck. If you know anyone in that world please reach out. I keep showing up but I don’t make a cent out there. I’m barely making all this work. Thanks to everyone that has donated and bought stuff in my web store. It’s literally funding all this.

Update as of 8-2023…
Almost 6 years in now.
Over 10,000 miles walked.
Over 3,000 rolls shot.
Still shooting even though I said 1 more year.
Within all that I’ve help prevent over 80 suicides just from looking like a tourist with a camera doing my laps and spotting people that looked off.
The hardest and most rewarding 5 years of my life. taken in Golden Gate Bridge by @jake_ricker

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6 years ago

👈SWIPE👈
Print For Sale. Link In Bio.
It’s been a very long time since I posted any work from the bridge. I’ve really tried to keep it all unseen till my book is done, but sometimes I pepper in a few shots. Out of the 100,000 photos I’ve taken out there in the last 5 years I think I’ve only ever shared about 30 photos. These are photos that made the rounds on @lensculture in the last few months and I wanted to share them here. A few of you may have already seen over there. A few I’ve never shared. All of this is years old. I actually haven’t seen a single photo I’ve taken on the bridge in over 2 years. Over a thousand unseen rolls. I’d also like to apologize to anyone and everyone I haven’t seen or talked to in the last few years. I have been a terrible friend, boyfriend, brother, son, grandson, cousin, and whatever else I might be to someone. I have turned down basically every meet up, hang out, trip, date, party, art show, wedding to be at the bridge. It has completely taken over my life. An absolute obsession. It’s nothing personal. It’s just something I had to go and do. Thank you for rockin with me. Thank you for buying little postcards and prints to help fund it. The financial burden this project has put on me is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone. If I knew what I got myself into I probably wouldn’t have done it. But once I realized what it was going to take I was too far in. I just had to accept the sacrifice and stress and keep pushing. Don’t feel too bad. I did it to myself and while it’s been great and I’m excited for finish it strong it has been stressful. Every year I’ve said one more year, but this year is actually the final year. Thanks for tuning in.

If you’re new to following me or just randomly seeing this I’ve been walking and documenting the Golden Gate Bridge daily for 5 years. Over 10,000 miles walked. Thousands of rolls of film shot. And dozens of people I’ve helped intervene on suicide attempts while I’m out there. I wanted to do something never done before. Take the most photographed place in the world and show it in a completely new way with one body of work from one photographer. More photos and info on my page. Click around. taken in Golden Gate Bridge by @jake_ricker

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4 years ago

Down On My Luck.
Caught Unaware Like Houdini When The Last Fist Struck. #sanfrancisco #cityhall taken in San Francisco City Hall by @jake_ricker

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12 days ago

photographing the Golden Gate Bridge taken in Golden Gate Bridge by @jake_ricker

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5 months ago

Now that almost every single book and zine had been delivered here is a process video of many weeks of work hand stamping and signing over 200 zines and books. As well as hand stamping every single envelope to ship them in. Every single copy is a little bit different with the gold ink making a slight variation to every cover. I intentionally waited to show these details to kinda keep what you’d receive in the mail somewhat of a surprise. Something I feel is rare these days. Thank you for the trust. This body of work is 92 pages taken from 856 rolls of film shot on The Golden Gate Bridge from January 1st to December 31st 2020. There is a 6x9 inch zine available in the edition of 170 as well as an 8x10 inch hard cover book option in the edition of 17. Every copy comes with a signed and numbered 4x6 print and a set of postcards. I have about 40 zines and only a few books still available. The zine version can be purchase at the link in my bio and if you’d like the hard cover book option send me a direct message.

The new set of postcards were all shot in 2020 to go along with this body of work. Each set has 5 different photos. Can also be purchased at the link in my bio. Sold individually or added to a zine purchase at a discount.

Thanks a ton to those that bought one last month. Really proud of this one. Hope you all enjoyed it. If you got your copy let me know what you think of it.

Feel free to reach out to me with any questions. taken in Golden Gate Bridge by @jake_ricker

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5 months ago

My 61 photo collage from the @prettygritty_sf show this past Saturday.
This piece is about 7 feet long by 5 feet tall. Thanks to everyone who made it out. Time is valuable. Thank you for taking the time to check out photography in San Francisco. This was the second time ever showing this much work from my project. Very proud of this piece. This post is for those that couldn’t make it and to those that live outside the Bay Area of California. Enjoy.

Big thanks to @bill.daniel @kristy.headley @photoalliance_sf @prettygritty_sf @berlinbrrr @_nikkigreene_ and all the photographers and artists that shared what they do.

Most of this work is from 2020. Still have some 92 page zines for sale. Link in bio. Right now that is the best way to support this work. Still have a couple hard cover book options of the 2020 book as well. DM me if you’d like one. by @jake_ricker

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6 months ago

6 years ago today San Francisco went into lockdown. What was supposed to be 2 weeks became a year. I went to the bridge everyday & made all of this…

Containing 92 photos taken from 856 rolls of film shot all during the COVID-19 lockdown on my third full year on the bridge. Perfect bound 5.5in X 8.5in landscape design. Very much like a journal each zine has a hand stamped cover, hand numbered, and hand signed to the edition of 170. No two are exactly the same. Each zine comes with a signed 4x6 print.

This zine is year three of a large multiyear body of work documenting The Golden Gate Bridge in a more up close and personal way on a daily basis. In the beginning my plan was to only go for a couple months and at the end of that year make something similar to this zine. As I finished those few months I knew I had to keep going and pivot the project in a more serious direction. Over the next 6 years I have continued to shoot thousands of rolls of film to one day publish a book. After all these years of sitting on this body of work I’m going to release small publications like this to help fund the backlog of over a thousand rolls of film I need to develop to continue the goal of publishing that large photo book from the entire 6 year project. Most if not all of the work is unseen & so far only lives in a 2018 zine/book I released in 2021 & this zine/book released in 2026.

Thank you for any & all the trust and support over the years. I try to make things right and with everything I make somewhat individual. I hadn’t looked at this work for many many years. As I dove into all 856 rolls of film I shot during all of 2020 to edit from to make this new release a flood of emotions came over me. 2020 changed all of our lives forever. I lost my job when the lockdown happened and decided to just go to the bridge 7 days a week for sometimes 13 hours a day. I’m really proud of this year of work. I’m keeping this work offline so if you do decide to hit the purchase button I really appreciate your trust and I know you will really love what I’ve made.

Link in bio.

A limited edition hardcover book option is also available not on my webstore. DM me if you’d like one.

Thank you. by @jake_ricker

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7 months ago

Some images by Jake Ricker one of the Winners of our ‘This Moment in Time’ competition which will be on show in the @daidostarspace from thurs 26th onwards! Congrats!

Jake’s work was selected by @carlajwms

Thanks to @polaroid for camera and film prizes

#showla #the_reef_la #daidostarspace #jakericker taken in The REEF L.A. by @jake_ricker

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8 months ago

Jake Ricker, 38
Photographer
San Francisco, CA, USA
13 December 2024 – 12 December 2025

LINK in BIO •

At Jake’s desk, I’m shown collages of images of the ravens, container ships, and the images on Google Street View featuring Jake. I’m shown the retaliatory photos he takes of the Google spy-cars. I ask him why he chose the Bridge. He shows the image that started it for him, and then he shows me the images he has collected by others which feature the bridge. He shows me The Pillar, by Stephen Gill.

New York Fashion Week just ended for me, and before I head off to finish out the FW26 season in Milan and Paris, I took the time to write this all down. The photos that Jake creates, (MOST of which are still not even developed, laying in large Ziplock bags in his fridge), are the kind of photos which most photographers should aspire to shoot. The longevity behind his still-ongoing Bridge project, his countless photos of the hellscape that is The Tenderloin, his photos of his grandmother, and just his overall discipline in always being with a camera and ready to shoot, are admirable, to say the least,

I share this here not only because Jake is a friend, and not just because I am a big fan of what he does. I share this here because I think that more people need to see what Jake has done and watch what he will continue to do. The ruthless Instagram algorithm is not what keeps his work out of the spotlight, and perhaps the project he has chosen to take on is far too large and (without a doubt) far too deep for a SoMe audience. I just hope that people who see these photos OF Jake, will take the time to look at the photos BY Jake. And I just hope that maybe just one of those people (you?) might have the ability to show his photos to the world.

Thanks, Jake.

- AKS

Branding + Visual Identity by @sascha_lobe + @kimberly_lloyd at @lobelloyd •

#AKS #AdamKatzSinding #NoFreePhotos #JakeRicker taken in San Francisco, California by @jake_ricker

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8 months ago

Jake Ricker, 38
Photographer
San Francisco, CA, USA
13 December 2024 – 12 December 2025

LINK in BIO •

On a table in my living room is a book by Jake called Mad World. My copy is numbered #21 (!!!) and in the back is written “Photos Taken While I Was A Bike Messenger 2009-2018”. Inside are photos of people…all kinds of people doing all kinds of things. If you open one of my drawers, inside you will find a stack of little plastic sleeves filled with his prints and postcards. Everything is the opposite of the photos I take. Everything is the epitome of what a photographer should do.

In 2024 and 2025 I visited Jake twice to take photos of him and his hundreds of rolls of undeveloped photos from the Bridge. He had already finished with his bridge project. Or perhaps “finished” is the wrong word. He had already changed his approach project. Many things led to this decision: A Series of Unfortunate Events.

On 1 January 2024, the Suicide Deterrent Net was completed, and with that, the project ironically died in a way.

Jake has seen people jump and he has talked even more of them out of doing so. He’s befriended the ravens (Jaws & Nikki Sixx) that followed him on his bridge-traverses. He watched the skies of 2020 turn to nearly the same “International Orange” that the bridge is coated in, as the state was devoured by wildfires. He’s documented new graffiti as it appears, and the retaliatory cover-up paint by the civil servants to make it disappear. He’s photographed container ships entering, and mega cruise ships departing the Bay.

My favorite story is from 26 January 2020. DeCarlis “DC” Wilson’s last day alive. I’d love to tell it to you, as it’s totally wild and sad. Instead, I think you should go to @Jake_Ricker on Instagram and scroll back to 5 February and read it for yourself.

Branding + Visual Identity by @sascha_lobe + @kimberly_lloyd at @lobelloyd •

#AKS #AdamKatzSinding #NoFreePhotos #JakeRicker taken in Golden Gate Bridge by @jake_ricker

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8 months ago

Jake Ricker, 38
Photographer
San Francisco, CA, USA
13 December 2024 – 12 December 2025

LINK in BIO •

1 mile = 1.60934 kilometers.

That is the distance from the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula to the Marin Headlands.

1.7 miles = 2.737 Kilometers.

That is the total length of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Jake has walked that length thousands of times. Over and over. Every day. For six and a half years. Over 13,000 miles, he tells me. With his cameras

And then one day he just didn’t go back. The plan changed.

I met Jake in Seattle, back before disc brakes and Di2. We would go on rides together before normal people could afford GPS or a power meter. After, I would go to work at my hotel and tell my coworkers where I had ridden, as there was no Strava map to show. It all felt a bit more “real” back then.

I moved to New York on the last day of 2010, and fell out of touch with Jake, and most of the guys I rode bikes with back in Seattle. But according to a long scroll through the DM’s, Jake and I reconnected in 2016. And since around that time, I’ve become a huge fan of what he has dedicated his life to photographing.

When you walk into my apartment in Copenhagen, the first thing you see on the wall is a photo by Jake. It’s a man with his throat slit, sitting in a bus stop, a woman holds his neck to stop the bleeding as three women pass by in the background, and a man sits next to the victim, looking totally unphased by it all.

Very Instagram-unfriendly, and that’s why I love it.

Branding + Visual Identity by @sascha_lobe + @kimberly_lloyd at @lobelloyd •

#AKS #AdamKatzSinding #NoFreePhotos #JakeRicker taken in San Francisco, California by @jake_ricker

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8 months ago