Ryan McGinley Overview

In 1999, Ryan McGinley, then a graphic design major at Parsons School of Visual Arts in New York, sent his 50-page home-cooked book of urban idyllic photographs The Kids Are Alright, which he had produced on his desktop computer, to 100... [more]

In 1999, Ryan McGinley, then a graphic design major at Parsons School of Visual Arts in New York, sent his 50-page home-cooked book of urban idyllic photographs The Kids Are Alright, which he had produced on his desktop computer, to 100 magazine editors and artists he admired. At the time, fashion photography was ending its infatuation with gritty photography. Decaying beauty, as found in moody images of slouchy, stoned, skinny girls by artists such as David Sims, Glen Luchford, Mario Sorrenti and Corinne Day, were being wiped off magazine pages in favor of buoyant stylized shots of pretty Brazilian girls with party-ready bodies and supernaturally white teeth. Ryan McGinley's photographs of his friends exuberantly indulging in irreverent behavior are neither sullen nor saccharine. His early photographs of kids messing around, stealing stuff and getting trashed, were influenced by graffiti, queer culture, skateboarding and sloppy parties without the hard drugs, impending tragedy and romanticized madness of his predecessors' generation of self-defining photography. McGinley, who was born in New Jersey in 1977, is never a tourist. He really is an extremely talented photographer with good-looking friends who look like they'd be really funny and smart. They do look alright. [show less]