Gifted Photographer and Artist Needs Your Help.

Have you ever stopped to look at a beautiful magazine cover? We all have! Imagine being gifted enough to have your photo published on the cover of the millennial edition of Time Magazine, only to end up having a chronic pain health condition and living in poverty.

 

My dear friend Brad Rickerby is living such an existence. This is his story. Please help him.

 

Brad wants to continue a photographic project he started decades ago that he affectionately called the City Lights Project.

 

Brad is a great photographer and has an exceptionally creative mind. He has the professional credentials to back up this fact.

 

Brad's Early Career

Brad began his career as a photographer when he was a child. He learned his craft at the side of his dear father, a staff photographer for LIFE magazine. Despite surviving a decade of sexual abuse and rape (unknown to anyone), his first publication credit in LIFE magazine came before his tenth birthday. As you can see, photography has been his passion since childhood.

 

Of the Pulitzer Prize and a Time Magazine Cover

Brad worked as a professional photographer for more than 20 years. During that time, he earned a Pulitzer Prize nomination, through Reuters, for the work he did in New York City on 9/11. He was also published on many worldwide magazine covers, including the cover of the millennial issue of Time Magazine. Through his association with Reuters and later Getty, Brad had his images published in virtually every significant magazine globally and in national and international newspapers too numerous to mention.

 

 

Some of Brad's Credits

A partial list of his credits include LIFE, Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Vanity Fair, Random House, Goldman Sachs, Harpo Productions, Le Figaro, Hasbro, Forbes, Paris Match, Microsoft, Dell, the Government of China, Hong Kong Times, Playboy, Huffpost, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, GQ, Fortune Magazine, About.com, People Magazine and The London Times.

 

Finally, Brad’s work has hung in the International Center of Photography in New York City, in the Smithsonian in Washington DC, and at many other museums across the country. The shows contained images he created as a youngster working at his father’s side and his dad’s photographs.

 

City Lights Assignments

Many of Brad's assignments involved the artistic photographic expression of cities' colors, lights, and movement at night. He has photographed New York City and Miami, London and Paris, Venice and Berlin, Hong Kong and Shanghai, Bangkok and Hanoi, and many more. His passion was to create storytelling images of the pulse of cities, of the energy and excitement of urban life, through the city's building’s lights and the movement through and around them of cars, boats, trains, planes, and people. He was very good at it, as was fitting given his level of passion.

 

 

Hardship comes to us all.

A series of four misfortunes derailed Brad’s career. First, the market for his images altered drastically. Where once his average image license was in the thousands of dollars, that average fell to mere pennies. Second, all his camera equipment was stolen while Brad was traveling internationally. It was a loss of over $20,000. Brad also suffered a heart attack and triple bypass surgery.

 

With Brad’s determination and creativity, these traumas alone could have been overcome were it not for the crushing blow of the fourth hardship. Brad began suffering from a chronic pain syndrome that ultimately left him hobbled, disabling him, and leaving him to live in constant pain.

 

Brad now lives in North Providence, walks only with the assistance of a cane, gets through the pain with heavy doses of prescription medication (which creates another form of incapacity), and survives financially on the paltry payments of Social Security Disability Income.

 

This once passionate, creative professional photographer has been left sidelined, watching as life passes him by. He talks about himself as not living but instead leading a meaningless existence.

 

There Is New Hope

There is new hope, however. Let me say that again; THERE IS NEW HOPE!

 

Brad is about to undergo a new medical procedure that should substantially reduce his pain. The first step in this procedure will take place on Friday the 13th of May. While he would continue to be disabled, with restricted mobility from the damage to his body already done, his health should improve. After decades of suffering, Brad can return from the sidelines and pursue his passion.

 

 

With your help and generosity,

Brad will be able to return to photography and pursue his desire to create high-end professional quality city lights images. Brad has no cameras, lenses, or lights. His equipment was all stolen, his health problems were increasing as his photo sales decreased and now his income from SSDI is barely enough to live on. Brad has never had the chance to recover from the theft loss.

 

Brad is looking to purchase a Sony a1 camera and lens etc. This system will let Brad create large file size (50 megapixels), images, large enough to meet his goal of showing in galleries and perhaps museums. He will start shooting in Boston, exploring it's many varied locations. Boston is the closest major city to Brad. If his health permits and he runs out of locations in Boston, Brad may move on to explore other cities.

 

Please help Brad achieve his lifelong dream.

He needs at least $20,000 to replace what was stolen from him. This will give meaning to his life again. Funds in excess of this amount will be used for a new computer system and mobility assistance equipment (such as a wheelchair).

 

By the way, Brad has a BA from Reed College and an MBA from Duke.

 

Thank you.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Please give what you can, and thank you for your donations. Please also pass along the link for this campaign to everyone you know. Any and all help you can give Brad will be more than appreciated.

 

Thank you.

 

All funds raised with be accessible to Brad Rickerby exclusively.

UPDATE: May 12, 2022by Bradford Rickerby, Beneficiary
Tomorrow I go for my medical procedure. I am equal parts delighted and terrified. I am delighted that the time has come, that the pain may be reduced and that I may get closer to having a more complete life. I am terrified that the procedure won't work and that I will remain in pain. Your prayers would be appreciated.

UPDATE: May 14, 2022by Bradford Rickerby, Beneficiary.

Okay. I went to the pain clinic for the procedure. Sadly, they had me scheduled for a back intervention while the pain is worst in my feet and hands. We are rescheduled for a round of tests prior to the needed work on my feet. Patience is virtue they say.  Brad.

UPDATE:  May 19, 2022by Bradford Rickerby, Beneficiary
A fast followers on my Instagram account, @bradscitylightsproject. The page is a fund raiser for this GoFundMe campaign. Go ahead and have a look at the beautiful images of cities around the world. No contribution needed to enjoy the images (but if you want to, I guess I can't stop you). Enjoy. Brad.

UPDATE:  May 29, 2022by Donna ONeill, Organizer

I would like to thank everyone who donated from the bottom of my heart. Brad is an amazing talent who almost lost the will to live. Photography is his passion. We should all do something we are passionate about. That way we never work a day in our lives. Thank you all again for making a tremendous difference in the life of a kind, caring, gentle soul. You are and will always be in my thoughts and prayers. I am so grateful to god for you all. There are no words to express my gratitude.

UPDATE: JUNE 13, 2022 by Bradford Rickerby, Beneficiary
I want to thank all of the great people that have made a donation to my campaign as well as to all those that are yet to come. Please accept my gift of you your favorite Brad Rickerby image with a Personal Use license emailed to you. Go to bradrickerby.com to choose the photo you love most. File size will allow for up to a 16 x 20" print. Or, I can get the print made for you at cost. (Please note, tear sheet reproductions cannot be done to the 16 x 20” print size). Contact me for full details

 

You can see Brad's creative portfolio at Brad Rickerby's Creative Portfolio

See City Lights photos by Brad on Instagram at: bradscitylightsproject

Prior press clippings include:

https://creativepro.com/a-photographer-who-paints-with-light/

 

9/11 Photos by Brad Rickerby

Cover photos by Brad Rickerby

 

City Lights photos by Brad Rickerby (Shanghai Neon (l) and Dubai skyline (r)).