When I started out, it was
just me, and I would shoot what
was going on in my life every night
in downtown New York.
ANDREA: Were there any surprising or unexpected chal-
a movie called “Two-Lane Blacktop.” It was a road film
lenges in making those images?
made in the ‘70s, and I really liked it. I liked “Easy Rider.”
I’m a big Dennis Hopper fan, and there are Terrence Ma-
RYAN: I guess an unexpected snowstorm came in, but
lick’s movies. There’s a good one called “Days of Heaven”
that worked to our benefit, almost. I was an amateur
that I really love with Richard Gere.
snowboarder for years, that’s how I grew up in New Jer-
And then I realized that it was just too ambitious for me
sey, so I was pretty aware of the winter conditions. At one
at the time. I just wasn’t capable of pulling it off. But I
point in 2009, the New York Times hired me to shoot the
had all of this info I’d collected about where I wanted to
Winter Olympics for them, so I spent three months with
go and what I wanted to do, so I decided to go on a road
all the Olympic athletes across America while they were
trip and follow the footsteps of photographers and books
training. So I kind of knew how to shoot in the cold and
I like about traveling across America. And that’s how I
keep people warm and how to work in that landscape.
started traveling.
ANDREA: Why were these landscapes the next big thing?
ANDREA: Did you ever wish you could just go out and
shoot without all the preparation and hassle?
RYAN: I’ve always been a big fan of the Hudson River
School, Frederic Church and Thomas Cole. Even in high
RYAN: I like the pressure that it creates. I like making a
school, I was interested in them. Overall, I love working
plan and hiring people. You have to follow through with
outdoors.
the project. You hire all these people to help, you book a
It was also so I could stay close to home. My mom is get-
whole itinerary of places to go, and you have to pay for a
ting a lot older, and I’m the youngest of eight. I wanted to
lot of it ahead of time. It just forces me to go through with
be close to her and to spend more time with her, so it was
the project, regardless of where I’m at that day. I feel like a
for personal reasons also.
lot of the times when there isn’t that pressure, I’ll be like,
“It can wait today. I’ll just do it tomorrow.” A lot of artists
ANDREA: Your early work was more documentary, and
suffer from procrastination, and I think that having a team
now there are a lot more logistics and planning involved.
of peopl e lights a fire under my ass.
You’ve said that while your early work was about documenting what was going on, your recent work is like
ANDREA: You often shoot people as small shapes in an
making a movie. Can you elaborate?
expansive landscape, submerged in water, behind trees,
as animals, etc. What is it about the relationship be-
RYAN: There’s a lot more people involved. When I start-
tween people and nature that you keep coming back to?
ed out, it was just me, and I would shoot what was going
on in my life every night in downtown New York. In 2004,
RYAN: I like that nature is always changing. There are
I really got into traveling. One of my friends, Mike Mills,
endless possibilities. I would go someplace I’d researched
made a film called “Thumbsucker”, and he asked me to
and think, “Oh my God, this isn’t working out.” Then I’d
come onto his film set and shoot photos. I got to see the
turn around and find something ten times better.
way a team worked, and I was really into it. They were
With nature, you know what you’re going to get, and you
accomplishing so much. Over the course of two weeks, I
don’t know what you’re going to get, and I love that. It’s
got to see a good portion of a film being made. I was im-
constantly evolving and there’s so much to explore. And
pressed by it, and I really wanted to work like that. Mike
I guess on a spiritual level, that’s my church. I love be-
said, “Ryan, you should make a film. You’d be a great
ing outside, connected spiritually. When you leave the
filmmaker. You should do it; write a script and just do it.”
city and bring somebody with you, you leave so much
And I was like, “Yeah, I’m going to do that.”
behind. New York City is the place where my studio is,
I really wanted to make a road movie, and I started writing
and I do a lot of business, but I prefer shooting in nature
the script based off of traveling around America. There’s
more than anything.
Ryan McGinley, Jonas (Molten), 2009.
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