5MINS with Lindsey Rickert
Hi Lindsey, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into photography?
I was fascinated with cameras from a young age. Deep down, I always wished that I possessed the ability to draw. I am always jealous of those who have the ability to pull from their mind and draw it in a photo realistic style. Since this wasn’t something I was good at, I found myself drawn to photography. Early on, I learned that I could push the boundaries of reality and move photography from straight documentation to a more magical realm that allowed me to create the world that I saw in my head.
You recently featured your series ‘Disconnected’ with us (see here), what made you chose to use mannequins over models?
Honestly, it started as a fluke. I was coming off of a project, Drive-In America that I poured myself into everyday for over three years. I had returned home from my road trip and all that was left was to design the book so I wasn’t really shooting anymore aside from commissioned work and that had me feeling a bit lost. I was sitting on the couch one day looking around my house, which happens to contain a large collection of mannequins and strange body parts, and I had the urge to shoot. I didn’t have anyone around to model for me and the mannequins seemed like great stand-ins.
From there it started to spin into what you see today. What started as a fluke suddenly spoke to larger issues that I found in my own life while also giving me this interesting push/pull of control. My mannequins don’t move like live models would but they also don’t move like live models would. Sometimes I just want them to bend a leg or move a finger ever so slightly and that can’t happen. It became this interesting struggle between control and compromise, which is largely what the underbelly of this project is about.
Do you think your project ‘Disconnected’ is a remark on the pressure women seem to face to be this ideal beauty?
Absolutely. Especially being a photographic project. It can be strange working in a medium that largely contributes to these societal ideals of beauty that women try to live up to and I love using that medium to turn it back around as an examination of these issues.
This series seems almost documentary about women; do you think more projects like yours are needed to address the issue?
There are so many amazing projects out there examining a variety of issues that we face in our world today and there are so many issues in our world that are important to explore. That is the great thing about art. It is a place to express, explores, and starts a conversation with your audience.
Tell us about the use of bold, bright colours within ‘Disconnected’ and what led you to this decision.
I find that strong lighting and bright colours offer a playful way to examine deeper issues. Colour is a great way to catch a viewers eye and draw them in deeper. Colours also have deeper associations with meaning and for this project; I wanted to go towards those bright bubble gum colours that can so often be associated stereo typically with womanhood. Case in point, the mannequin vomiting pink.
Your work seems to have cinematic influence, are you inspired by film, which photographers do inspire you?
Yes, I am always looking to film as inspiration. Even though it is a moving image, I have a tendency to watch films and pause them when I see the perfect still. My work is greatly influenced by Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, John Waters, and the in general, the horror genre. As for photographers, Cindy Sherman, Weegee, William Eggleston, Gregory Crewdson, and Alex Prager to name just a few.
You recently made a photobook, can you see ‘Disconnected’ as one or do you think you’ll make another one in the future?
Ha, I get asked this a lot actually, even before my first book was officially released. I could see Disconnected eventually becoming a book but that wasn’t the intent I set out with like it was when I started Drive-In America. Self publishing is a lot of hard work that I am not ready to dive back into just yet considering it has been less than a year since I released Drive-In America but that doesn’t mean I won’t be up for the challenge in the future.
So what's next?
I always have at least 10 project ideas spinning around in my head. Most recently, I got back to using models again. I started tying them up in their own hair in an almost aggressive fashion. As this project progresses, I find that it takes on a lot of the same societal constraints of beauty that Disconnected touches on. I plan to continue with it and see where it takes me. I also have been stirring on the idea of doing a behind the scenes of Disconnected since I get comments so often of how funny it must be for strangers to see me carrying around these mannequin parts or for TSA to find a mannequin head in my luggage.
Thanks Lindsey!
