Hello, my name is Ricky Day
I was born in St. Louis, Missouri, raised in Los Angeles, California and made my way to the Big Apple in April of 1999 and I haven’t looked back. I am an interdisciplinary artist, photographer and human being committed to kindness and a man who takes seriously the call to use my artistic gifts to serve others. In this case that means YOU!
My bio can be found below, but THIS is what I want you to know upfront. Yes, I am a professional artist, but I have no time or space for ego (mine or yours). For those who loathe taking pictures, but whose profession demands new images I am experienced at turning your portrait session into an engaging and pleasant experience. it brings me joy to watch clients marvel at home amazing each of you are in your own special way.
The commercial side of Ricky Day Studio exists to create images that enhance and support your career and/or business goals and to document the important moments in your life journey. Please fill out the contact form on the inquiries page and someone will contact you to schedule a free 15-minute consultation call.
If you are interested in my artistic output there are pages on the site dedicated to that. I am no longer segregating my art from the very necessary commerce we must all engage in. I bring art to my commercial endeavors and I earn a living painting with light and love.
Join me and let's make magic and memories together. Of course you're more than welcome to purchase a print or a painting and take a piece of my creativity home with you.
- Ricky
RICKY DAY
Ricky Day is a Harlem,New York based photographer, filmmaker, media personality working primarily with themes related to identity, pop-culture and the African American experience. “For Love and Blackness” (November 2023) was Ricky’s first solo exhibition in New York City. In early 2023 Ricky was selected as the Juror’s Award-winning photographer for “Portrait– Self and Others” curated by Aline Smithson and “Parenthood” curated by Rebecca Senf at Photo Place Gallery in Vermont.
His work has been shown in numerous solo and group shows in America and abroad including: Untangled: Combing Through the Roots of Black Hair” on the occasion of Art Basel Miami 2023 at the Good TimeHotel; “Fire and Soul: 100 Years of Harlem” at Kente Royale Gallery; New York;”Black Art Matters“ at Maag Hall in Zurich; “Masterpiece” at Band of Vices in Los Angeles. Ricky has also exhibited in group shows at Leslie Lohman Museum and Leslie Lohman Project Space, UmbrellaArts, and Rush Arts and additional solo exhibitions include; “Brother Outsider Won’t YouCome Inside” and “Introducing Ricky Day. In 2020, Ricky served as the first ever artist-in-residence for Art Crawl Harlem on Governor’s Island in New York City.
Other recent work includes; the 2021 and 2022 Pride campaigns for Emil Wilbekin’s Native Son which he conceived and shot, portraits including the front and back covers for Ty Hunter’s memoir “Makeover from Within,” and editorial cover stories for Ambassador Magazine and Swerv Magazine respectively.
Current and past clients include: The Met Museum, Google, YouTube, Interscope Records, Columbia University, TV-One, Proctor and Gamble, Nivea, Ford Models, PMK-BNC, Stylist and designer, Ty Hunter; author and CNN commentator, Keith Boykin; journalist and Native Son founder, Emil Wilbekin, media personality and author, Bevy Smith, Ford Models, Click Models, MBK Entertainment, Sugarcane Magazine, and Interscope Records to name a few.
Ricky is also a graduate of NY Theological Seminary where he earned a certificate in Christian Ministry and Leadership in 2021 the host of the engaging and inspiring weekly podcast, Nothing to Lose but Yourself which is available on all major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Ricky brings creativity, integrity, and an infectiously positive and calming spirt to his work and interactions with his subjects. To shoot with him is an experience in and of itself.
Artist Statement: Love, Blackness and humanity
Working primarily in photography, video, and painting, I interrogate my belief that in the absence of intentional awareness of and engagement with self, for many people self becomes a performance. I believe that notions of self are developed in direct relationship to the images and information provided to us via pop culture, religion, and the values and roles forced upon us by our respective peer groups, families and the culture at large. I believe the inability to know, and to fully embrace our authentic selves often creates a void inside that leads to misguided worship of wealth, social status and corrosive power structures as substitutes for true love[1] and community. As such we can be tempted to elevate our feelings about self by seeking to diminish others.
I evoke my experiences as a human being to address the role of a love ethic, genetic and chosen family and intimacy in American society and Black life. My work also serves as an examination of how cultural expressions and the building of both a literal and metaphysical “homeplace” serve as acts of liberation and resistance. I am interested in the relationship between societal discourse, pop-culture, subculture, and the development and expression of individual identity.
With influences as diverse as advertising, ministry, podcasting and social media, new insights originate from both orderly and random dialogues. Informed by research and personal experience,I employ the tools, technology, and techniques of advertising and mass media todeconstruct paradigms and inspire self-reflection. My work is at once an examination of culture,a celebration of culture, and a contribution to “the culture.”
[1] bell hooks,All About Love, pages 4-5, (HarperCollinsPublishers, 2000)