Quote

I put all of my time into art because I couldn't go back to Jersey and work at Starbucks.

Ryan McGinley

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Ryan McGinley
Age: 47
Born: 1977
Born: October 17
Photographer
Ramsey
New Jersey
Jersey
Couldn
Art
Back
Work
Time

More quotes by Ryan McGinley

Image
When I was in art school, the photo kids were separated from the rest. If you did sculpture or painting or graphic design, you were all taking the same classes, but the photographers just went straight into photography.
Ryan McGinley
Image
I want to venture into film more, and I think that a nice way to transition into doing that would be a documentary. I think it would be interesting to find one person that really fascinated me or maybe a band and travel with them, but I don't think I could do it like I used to do it.
Ryan McGinley
Image
I went through a pretty big David Bowie period when I was younger, and that has affected me profoundly in my life and my work.
Ryan McGinley
Image
I think a lot about control nowadays, and I really want to let go and just be more in the moment.
Ryan McGinley
Image
Just having the camera, being able to pull back from situations and be an observer, it saved my life... I realised I could find these intimate moments and that people trusted me. That, basically, my camera was magic.
Ryan McGinley
Image
All I do is make photos. It's my life.
Ryan McGinley
Image
Just being friends with people now for over 15 years, you realize what we all came out of. What we came out of was the intense feeling of growing up. It sounds kind of cliché, but it's true.
Ryan McGinley
Image
Whatever emotions you're going through, you somehow seek out the people that are going through similar emotions or that maybe have something you need.
Ryan McGinley
Image
It's weird being a photographer because you really have to divorce yourself from the image.
Ryan McGinley
Image
A lot of people, even my parents, thought, Art school, I don't know. We'll support you but the success rate for artists is really slim.
Ryan McGinley
Image
I don't want to be an artist that gets stuck doing one thing. I don't want to be an artist who people look back at and say, 'His early work was really great.
Ryan McGinley
Image
In a lot of ways I look at these old photos, and I don't know if I would have been able to communicate with these people on this level if I didn't have a camera. I think I would still be so shy.
Ryan McGinley
Image
I knew my ticket out of the suburbs was art school, so I worked really hard to develop my portfolio and get a scholarship.
Ryan McGinley
Image
From 8 to 19, I was skateboarding every single day. That was my life. I worked at a skate shop. I watched skate videos.
Ryan McGinley
Image
The cool part about New York is that you can do that. You can talk to all the people you admire.
Ryan McGinley
Image
I was studying graphic design at the time, when negative scanners and all that stuff was coming out, and you could do it all in your apartment. So I would shoot, make contact sheets, scan all the cool negatives, and make all these zines and books of my photos to give to my friends. I was really into zine- and bookmaking from skate culture.
Ryan McGinley
Image
Everyone I'm photographing, I feel like I'm remaking a family, in a way. My brothers and sisters are my heroes. So many of my models resemble them.
Ryan McGinley
Image
There was no luxury. I never got on an airplane until I was 18. We drove everywhere. My dad was like, Waste not, want not.
Ryan McGinley
Image
I'm interested in reaching the masses with my work. It's one of my goals.
Ryan McGinley
Image
I'm not going to hide behind anything.
Ryan McGinley