Doug Rickard will discuss his most recent series, A New American Picture, which consists of color photographs of America street scenes, located using the internet tool Google Street View.  Over a period of two years, Rickard took advantage of the technology platform’s comprehensive image archive to virtually drive the unseen and overlooked roads of America, bleak places that are forgotten, economically devastated and abandoned.  Collectively, these images present a startling photographic portrait of the socially disenfranchised, providing deeply affecting evidence of the American Dream inverted.

Rickard is the founder of American Suburb X (www.americansuburbx.com) and These Americans (www.theseamericans.com), aggregating websites for essays on contemporary photography and historical photographic archives.  Rickard’s work was included in the MoMA exhibition New Photography 2011, and a solo exhibition is planned for the fall of 2012 at Yossi Milo gallery in New York City.

This special Wednesday night IRIS Nights lecture is presented by MOPLA (Month of Photography Los Angeles) and the Annenberg Space for Photography.  During the month of April, explore a variety of photographic exhibitions and discussions at venues throughout Los Angeles.  Additionally, through MOPLA’s Pro’jekt LA, photography will be projected on walls and outdoor spaces of Los Angeles.  MOPLA is a program of the Lucie Foundation.  Visit www.mopla.org for a schedule of events.

Tickets for this event will be released online on Monday, April 16 at 12 noon and Tuesday, April 17 at 9:30am.  Once tickets are released, you may register by going to http://iris0425.eventbrite.com.  Each person is limited to two tickets.