Between A Peasant and A Patroon
You wouldn’t think the man in dirty work clothes is a descendent of Peter Stuyvesant and John Jacob Astor. Richard Aldrich (Ricky) is a graduate of Harvard and the Johns Hopkins School of International Relations and speaks five languages. He is the eldest of three children who inherited Rokeby Estate in Dutchess County, N.Y. when he was in his twenties. As a tenth generation descendent of the Livingstons and the Astors, Ricky represents one of the last original family owners of a Hudson River estate.
In order to photograph Ricky I had to follow him around as he attended to his numerous chores, sometimes riding on the back of his tractor. We went on numerous trips to the hardware store, visited all of his tenants, squeezed under a crawl space, and even stopped in the middle of nowhere to leave a note inquiring about a hay miser. This collection captures Ricky’s daily activities; his relationship with his land; his fascination with machines; and his willingness to get his hands— as well as the rest of his body— dirty. The artist/subject relationship evolved into an artist/apprentice relationship as I passed him a wrench or helped push his ice boat.
Ricky introduced me to some of his favorite things: gas, oil, ether, and WD-40. He explained that WD-40 means water density and forty indicates that they perfected the formula after the fortieth try.
The first photograph I took of Ricky was the summer before my senior year of college. I was driving down on the narrow dirt road that leads to Rokeby Estate when I was stopped by Ricky’s battered old car that was parked in the middle of the road. Ricky was sitting in the trunk of his car holding court with several people around him. This illustrates Ricky as a cultural paradox. I did not have my camera that day—so I used my iPhone to capture the moment. I never left the house without my camera again.
A writer once said that “Ricky would give you the shirt off his back, but who would want it?” You might not want his dirty shirt, but you would welcome his company, as I did over the year that we worked together.
This collection of photographs focuses on Ricky, a loving, caring, humble, generous and hardworking man with boundless curiosity and enthusiasm for life!
Click here for Historical Background