Taken primarily in New York City and along the West Coast, Gordon’s images examine the role of photography and its relationship with reality. Gordon’s images are a part of an early discourse about how society has used photography as a means of representation. Though he is theorizing about the medium, his images often are witty, even humorous, while formally exploring the exotic of the everyday.

Richard Gordon was born in Chicago in 1945. He studied Political Science at the University of Chicago and did not begin photographing until he worked at a photography studio in 1965. Early in Gordon’s career, Robert Frank critiqued his work and stated that he “loved photography too much.” Gordon frequently makes photographic references in his work and pays homage to the photographers who influenced him: Eugène Atget, Walker Evans, Robert Frank and Helen Levitt.