Ryan McGinley is a photographer from New York City.
His photographs are unpretentiouse and spontaniouse. Reminiscent of home snap shots, they appear to capture personal monments.
In his earlier work his joyful portrayal of youth in New York had a beautiful rawness to it.
Whilst in his more recent work there is a more natural, innocent feel.
He began his career while he was still at Parsons School of Design studying Graphics. By sending out a DIY book he made on his computer called “The Kids Are Alright “, to all the people he knew and liked in magazines and publishing.
The book featured photographs of his own social circle. With kids just hanging out and acting out. Spraying graffiti, messing about, stealing stuff, even masturbating. The simple snap shots, manage to capture intimate portraits of humanity. His subjects are people with strong personalities because then he is confident that whilst shooting “something interesting will occur.”
The book was well received, and despite still being in college, when Index Magazine received the book they took him on straight away, flying him to Berlin the day after they got it.
Now his photographs have been exhibited internationally, and he was the youngest artist to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum in 2002.
You may have even seen him gracing the pages of Vice, Dazed and Confused, Index, V, The Fader, I-D, Dutch, Butt and The New York Times Magazine. Yet he remains unaffected and maintains the sense of honesty and integrity in his work that is so refreshing.
His recent project entitled I Know Where the Summer Goes, captures the essence of long hot summers, road trips and rites of passages. It features young people playing naked in the countryside in a kind of joyful abandon.
Speaking of his proccess Ryan says “I'll usually start with a rough idea, like how pretty it would be to have a whole tangle of naked people really high up in a tree. Then I'll find a location, get everyone together and tell the general plan but let everyone be spontaneous, within that controlled environment. “
If you fancy getting involved in Ryan’s three-month whirlwind summer road trips than check out his site for contact info as he’s always looking for new models. RyanMcGinley.com
