Ryan McGinley - Photographer

[blushingambition]

“I use a lot of fireworks in my photographs. When I travel cross-country and buy fireworks I end up buying t-shirts too. This is my favorite brand of fireworks and my favorite fireworks t-shirt. Recently when I was on line at airport security I put my belt into the X-ray machine and when I got to the other side it was gone. I noticed a ******** boy who was standing on line in front of me wearing it and I just couldn’t say anything about it. I was on a shoot for the New York Times Magazine and the stylist gave me this ladies belt to keep my pants up. I would never buy a red patent-leather belt but I love wearing this one.”
Vintage Black Cat t-shirt, vintage Levi’s Sta-Prest jeans, H&M belt, Nike Air Max shoes

“I started doing yoga recently and am pretty much hooked. I’m embarrassed to say it, but it kind of changed my life. This outfit is supposed to be for runners but it also works well for yoga.”

Saucony tank top and shorts, Wigwam socks
​

“I first met agnès b. in 2002. I remember the first suit I picked out in her store in Los Angeles. It was light pink and I wore it to my first opening out there. Now her clothes occupy a very large space in my closet. She has given me a suit for each opening I’ve had over the last six years. That’s a lot of suits, and this is one of them. For some reason I’ve also worn this suit on Thanksgiving for the last three years. It seems appropriate.”

agnès b. corduroy suit, shirt, and tie; Church’s shoes

“Adam Kimmel is a great new menswear designer out of NYC. He makes beautiful clothes for guys who like their clothes to fit relaxed and comfortable. I went to Tokyo for a Tiny Vices exhibition and my Japanese hosts gave me these Adidas as a gift. I was so happy because they’re designed by one of my favorite contemporary artists, Jim Lambie.”

Adam Kimmel denim twill suit, Jim Lambie limited-edition Adidas shoes

“My first boyfriend had these great paint-splattered work pants that I loved to steal. I wore them for so long that after a while I just figured they were mine and I got them tailored to fit me perfectly without asking him. Of course right after that he asked for them back and we got in a huge fight because they didn’t fit him anymore. It was serious relationship drama. Shortly afterward he pushed me down a set of 20 metal stairs, I nearly broke my neck, and then we broke up.
I still love him.”

Martin Margiela jacket, Adam Kimmel denim shirt, Kim Jones puffy tie, Dickies pants, Converse shoes

“Have you ever seen the film Prick Up Your Ears with Gary Oldman playing the playwright Joe Orton? When I first saw it
I didn’t get the ironic title. If you say it fast with an English accent it becomes ‘Prick Up Your ****.’ Get it, like dick up your ***? Anyway, I spent far too much money on this amazing vintage Westwood creation one rainy day in England.
It’s got drawings of punks having an orgy on it.”

Levi’s corduroy jacket and pants, Vivienne Westwood Seditionaries t-shirt, Converse shoes

“This is a pretty typical outfit for me lately. I usually wear the same thing for weeks at a time, so it was pretty fun to get dressed up in 24 separate outfits in a single day for this shoot. I felt like Zoolander.”

Vintage wool plaid jacket from Argosy, Patrik Ervell shirt, agnès b. tie, wool Martin Margiela pants, Church’s shoes

viceland.com

 

[yourbestfriend]

Thanks for posting that article. I really enjoyed it....he has a story behind everthing he wears.

 

[Marvystone]

Vice covers shot by McGinley:

Vice: So is the photo you took for this issue’s cover real?
Ryan McGinley: Yes. Lily got into a fight the night before I made that photograph and she got a black eye. We were in White Sands, New Mexico and I made that image during the magic hour—one hour before the sun set. It’s my favorite time to shoot pictures.

Why were you guys in New Mexico?
Last summer I went on a trip across the United States, starting from New York and going all the way to California and back. I traveled with five boys and five girls for close to three months.

That sounds crazy.
Planning it was insane. I tried to follow a strict itinerary and stick to specific ideas for photo shoots each day. Sometimes it worked, but there’s always that element of surprise and mistake and that’s what I love. It’s like when you see something you totally didn’t map out, and you just say, “OK” and go with it. All the best work comes out of what you never expected to happen.

Did you always want to be a photographer?
I never thought I was going to be a photographer. I began making work at the end of 1998 and I remember thinking to myself, “Oh, am I a photographer? No, I’m not a photographer.” For four years I was just taking pictures because I was really into it and that’s just what I did because I had to do it. Then at the end of 2001, once I started to show my work a little and right around the time Index published my first book, I remember saying to myself, “Oh, I’m actually a photographer now!”

Your work has really changed direction since you started.
Well, now I think about my photographs more the way a director would think about a film. That really came about from being on the set of the Thumbsucker. Mike Mills asked me to come and photograph behind the scenes for a week in 2003 and I sort of had an epiphany.

Which was what?
I was very inspired watching Mike work these 14-hour days, everyday, going from location to location and producing massive amounts of work. I realized that I didn’t want to be this photographer that’s just doing one photo shoot here and then another photo shoot there. It was stressing me out too much. I wanted to spend time thinking about exactly where I wanted to shoot and what I wanted to shoot and the people I want to photograph together. Then, after making all this work, I’d come back and spend the next six months editing and putting it all together.

I think I’ll work like that until I actually have the balls to go ahead and make a film!

So working on the movie inspired the structure of the road trip project, but how did you decide on all the traveling and outdoorsy-ness that went into the photos?
After I moved to New York in 1996 I never wanted to leave. But then in 2002 I went upstate to visit my friend Dan Colen, who had been painting in a barn all summer. I brought a group of friends with me that I’d been photographing at the time. I realized that I really liked the idea of taking people out of the city. It brought out a freedom and energy. People really let down their guard and I liked photographing that.

But pretty much everything up until my exhibit at The Whitney Museum in 2003 was shot in New York. After that I had this feeling that I needed to get out of the city. Getting these kids who live here to leave is now a key part of my work. I could never produce the photos that I now make if I only shot in New York.

Why?
When you’re in the city it’s like you can’t get out of your mind what you have to do tomorrow or what you have to do later that day. When you take somebody out of the city for an extended period of time they quickly leave all that behind. I think since most people are not from New York, it reminds them of being a kid and being free, which is exactly how I want my subjects to be.

What do you do when you’re not taking photos?
All I do is work. I’ve dedicated my entire life to photographs. In some weird twisted way I think that becomes a conflict for me because all the people that are involved in my life are also a part of my photos. I can’t separate my life from my artwork and I feel like that’s a problem I have to work out.

You shoot a lot of film. How many shots does it take to make one good photo?
I haven’t figured out the ratio, but when it comes to photography and making a photo that I’m happy with, it’s all about excess. Shooting and shooting and shooting, and the subject doing the action over and over and over.

I really have no clue how to use cameras or lighting. I never formally studied photography. I studied graphic design, so I’m very makeshift with lights and I’m constantly looking at my cameras trying to figure out what’s going on. I’m also a master at breaking cameras. I’m always getting them wet or dropping them. What I really like is when things are easy and the camera is just an extension of my hand.

INTERVIEW BY IAN BAUMAN

viceland

 

[La bordélique]

Converse by John Varvatos - Get Chucked Spring/Summer 2008
Styled by Alister Mackie
Art Direction by Stephen Niedzwiecki
Models: David Norbert @ Next, Heather Marks @ Women

Marithé + François Girbaud Spring/Summer 2008
Styled by Tamara Rothstein
Models: Dakota Goldho, Lea Seydoux, Marcel Castenmiller, Morten Muriel Olsen

Microsoft - Zune
Art Direction by Brian Rowles

Nike - The Dance

All from lebook and highsnobiety

 

[La bordélique]

The series with Jake Boyle...

Jake (Golden) 2003

Jake (Floor) 2004

Jake (Sleeping Final) 2004

artnet.com and ryanmginley.com

 

[Bulle]

Oh! I really love his work, thanks for sharing !

 

[La bordélique]

One more for BerlinRocks ...

Jake (Cannes) 2005

photospathos.wordpress.com

And here's the rest of the Marithé + François Girbaud Spring/Summer 2008 campaign

lebook.com

 

[laurlaur]

This guy is amazing.

 

[liashoes]

He IS amazing. Here's one of the man himself with Craig McDean at he International Center of Photography's Awards Gala

style

 

[Chop Chop]

Wellingtons are a photographer’s best friend, trust me.

well, now i know why i can't get amazing photos...
i will buy wellingtons tomorrow

 

[J.Shi]

I love him..he's awesome..too bad he's taken..

 

[kasper!]

just visited his site...some photos are amazing

hope he can work more with W magazine..or other fashion magazine like vogue italia

 

[La bordélique]

More with Kate

afgmanagement

 

[alix*]

^ Beautiful photos. Love how they are still so bright even when it's cloudy.
Especially love how everything intermingles together.

 

[Bulle]

OMG, the first photo of Kate is amazing, thanks for sharing La Bordélique !

 

[sedirea]

Love the Kate Moss pictures.

 

[blushingambition]

Ryan has collaborated with the band sigur ros to make a music video which can be seen at their website: http://www.sigurros.com/dvd3.asp

Here's a still:


The band has also used one of his photographs for their new album cover:


From stereogum.com

The cover art is a photo by Ryan McGinley, who's credited on the video as well. He's been shooting the band for six years, and happened to send this photo from a flyer from his recent photo exhibit just when band needed some artwork.

 

[BerlinRocks]

^thanks!!
i love sigur ros....

 

[liashoes]

Awesome! I love the video.

 

[La bordélique]

That photo makes such a cute cd cover...