Rick Gold is a well known member of Sag Harbor’s educational community, having taught physics, chemistry, astronomy and seventh grade science at Pierson starting in 1996. He has been the District’s official-unofficial photographer, volunteering his time to cover school plays, homecoming parades, Whaler Day events, and much more. His classroom walls were always covered with pictures of his friends and students at work and at play. Prior to this, Rick was Director of Engineering at Qmed, Inc. here in Sag Harbor.

Rick is a passionate advocate of interdisciplinary education and had the good fortune to experience Project Based Interdisciplinary Education at Bergen County’s Academy for the Advancement of Science and Technology prior to his tenure at Pierson. His career reflects his passion, including experience in science and engineering, education, project management, music production, and photography (and a few more…).

Since his retirement for health reasons in 2005, Rick has devoted his time to rebuilding his strength enabling him to continue being of service to his community, while also developing his unique style of visual expression. As a research engineer, he pursued interests in visual research at Rockefeller University, and space imaging systems with General Electric, in Pittsfield, MA. As a youngster, he gained experience in working environments as diverse as Crawdaddy Magazine, Lerner Shops, Modernage Custom Darkrooms, and the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center.

Starting with black and white film and a basement darkroom, he has enjoyed the exciting evolution of digital photography as an encredibly powerful tool. His photography covers a time frame of almost 50 years. While Rick’s earlier work covers more historical subjects (informal portraits of Salvador Dali, construction of the World Trade Center, the destruction of Penn Station), much of his current work is aimed at developing precise creative control of color and light in natural settings.