Ricky adam

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Ricky Adam (b. May 19, 1974) a photographer from Northern Ireland

If man truly is a child of his environment, then Ricky Adam is the direct result of a life spent in the town of Bangor, a small town located just a few miles away from the urban sprawl of Belfast, Northern Ireland. As a teenager, Ricky spent his time chasing the subculture of youthful non-conformity in and around a Northern industrial town divided by both political and religious ideals. Instead of simply falling in line, butting heads on the gritty streets and enjoying the final moments of the day at the local pub, Ricky sought a different path through his earlier years.

In the late '80s, Ricky discovered two outlets that have remained tried and trued passions to this day; riding BMX bikes and, for lack of a better word, the punk scene. Both were heavily disregarded by society in Northern Ireland, and to participate in either subculture thrust a hybrid sort of outcast tag onto one's self. But Ricky was hooked; spending much of his time pursuing BMX (riding, reading the magazines of the day, living it) and punk music (playing drums in various bands, buying countless used records and attending gigs throughout the U.K. & Ireland) And though the demands of adulthood beckoned, Ricky ignored the call and continued to live his life in the only way that seemed fit, embracing the Do-It Yourself mantra that came hand in hand with both BMX and the punk scene.

In or around 1997, Ricky was introduced to photography. "It was something I could actually do and get results," he says, adding "I wish I had picked up a camera sooner." The technical aspects of shooting, developing and editing black and white photography were quickly digested by Ricky, and he soon found himself documenting images of BMX riding, the punk scene and the many unique people he encountered along the road through life. A few years into this newfound passion, Ricky's photos began to appear in Dig BMX Magazine, an internationally renowned BMX magazine edited, assembled and brought to life from an attic-sized bedroom in the Holyland region of Belfast. Founded by an early pioneer of the Northern Irish BMX scene named Will Smyth, Dig combined a passion for stylistic BMX riding alongside the DIY punk ethic both himself and Ricky had long been akin with. Ricky's iconic, black and white images proved a perfect fit on the pages of Dig, providing a juxtaposed offering on the environments that surrounded him. Ricky's photos gave new life to the streets of lackluster council estates, skeletons of buildings past and the naive youthful faces which perceived theses surroundings as adaptable urban treasures.

During Dig BMX Magazine's earlier days, Ricky also continued to document the punk scene, including both the eager faces of young audiences and the seasoned movements of the performing bands he witnessed. Ricky's photos went on to grace the covers of records by bands such as Bluetip, Refused, etc. in addition to appearing on the pages of long standing punk zines such as Maximum Rock N' Roll.

Currently, Ricky Adam is still employed by Dig BMX Magazine as a staff photographer/editor, where he travels the world documenting the many unique aspects of riding a BMX bike. His photography has also appeared on the pages of Vice, Heckler, Sushi, Visions, Lo-Down, Freedom, The Vacum to name a few. His work has appeared in art shows throughout the world and Shepard Fairey of ‘Obey’ fame recently made a limited edition 'Obey' poster print using one of Ricky's photos. Within the coming months, Ricky's first book, entitled 'Urbanite' will be released by 'Myopic Eye Press'. The book is a result of a long term project with photographs taken in various locations around the globe documenting people moving through cities. The photos are captured in Ricky's unique style using available light & dramatic composition to bring a dark and brooding atmosphere to the finished work. In his spare time, he enjoys BMX, the punk rock scene and cooking organic vegetarian food, (Incidently, Ricky took the photographs for the excellent Punk/Vegan cook book entitled Document). He takes notoriously long baths, and his favorite aspects of photography include street and punk show documentary, adding, "I'd say 99 percent of my photos have people in them."