get in solid walls with the know-it-alls

"Photography is about freezing a moment in time; McGinley's is about freezing a stage in a lifetime. Young and beautiful is as fleeting as a camera snap--and thus all the more worth preserving." - Jeffrey Kluger, TIME

There are lots of reasons to admire Ryan McGinley. For starters, his life appears to be extremely glamorous. He is always surrounded by gorgeous, naked people. He runs, skips, and jumps through open fields, cliffs over water, and atop abandoned buildings. And he was best friends with Dash Snow. And he explores caves. And he still uses film. Oh, and did I mention he's young and talented? McGinley had a solo show at the Whitney at the age of 25.

McGinley is an interesting man to look up to. He's the type of guy who your parents probably don't want you hanging out with, but you think he's the coolest anyway.

For the most part, McGinely takes photographs based on his real-life experiences and friends. In doing so, he captures a glorious pocket of young, New York subculture, drug-infused, active, hazy, raw, and impossibly beautiful. Virtually all of his photographs are centered around one or more charismatic nude subjects posing in a provocative but seemingly real way. Though many of the works appear to be rather candid, McGinley's subjects are indeed posing. Very aware of the camera and all of its implications, the subjects openly interact with the photographer, exhibiting their bodies, tattoos, scars, ugliest and prettiest faces in pretty bizarre (but gorgeous) of places. Both McGinley and his subjects are upfront in the pictures. He shows it how it is: people are sexual; they do drugs; they write graffiti; some of them are gay.

And he's not just documenting these things. Unlike some other photographers whose work is purely voyeuristic and/or of a photojournalistic nature, McGinley is living (and loving) this lifestyle. This is what makes him so appealing: his photos are of the sincerest nature, giving a true vision into his subculture, social functioning, and spontaneity.

McGinley is certainly not the first to do this. His works clearly reference Nan Goldin, who began to take photographs of a similar nature 3o years earlier. The major difference in the two artists' work is that while Goldin's photographs are marked with extreme sadness and guilt, McGinley's photographs are triumphant and celebratory. He takes situations and people that may not conventionally be considered attractive, and makes them utterly irresistible and perfectly enchanting.

In a sense, McGinley is paying homage to the gods of alternative culture. Active youth is eternal beauty. The photos speak to me in the most happy-go-lucky hazy soft of way. "Be young! Be free! Be true! Make silly decisions and look great while doing it! It will be alright. It will be beautiful."

photo credit:
top center: Jonas (Shining Soft), 2008 / 2009
top right: Kiss Explosion, 2005
left: Jake, Ocean. 2005
bottom right: Laura, 2007
all courtesy of the artist's website