Creating a benchmark in the history of documentary photography, Doug Rickard uncovers marginalized sections of the U.S. where promises of the American dream have ended as mere illusion. Appropriately titled A New American Picture, the captivating images reproduced from Google Maps’ Street View portray the lives of Americans in which unemployment is excruciatingly high and the standard of living is shockingly low. Beyond its initial function of mapping America, Google Maps inadvertently reveals the dire situation of the 99%. 
     A stark contrast to Robert Frank’s lonesome yet bustling America in the late 1950’s, the figures in Rickard’s work are in destitute conditions. You won’t find the young and the beautiful smoking cigarettes or couples cuddling in slick Buicks on these streets. Since Frank documented the country post-World War II, photographers have traveled the nation to preserve its idiosyncrasies. Rickard, on the other hand, documents the nation’s most underprivileged areas from the comfort of his own home. Carefully choosing angles on Street View, Rickard composed all images by photographing his computer screen with a digital SLR camera. Inevitably, Rickard’s work raises issues on surveillance, privacy, and the increasingly intrusive world the advancement of technology has created. This discussion, just like the use of Street View for art, has organically surfaced beyond Rickard’s original intention. With these fascinating images, Rickard has changed the history of documenting America and simultaneously captured the zeitgeist of our nation today.

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