143: Jake and the Bridge

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