The photographs in the Impromptus series celebrate the musical beauty of electric wires and telephone wires.  Some of the images focus on the lines’ simplicity and austerity, while others include a range of thick and thin wires, jagged and tangled ones, and intricate patterns of lines scattered across the page.  The result is an unexpected variety of rhythms, tempos, and moods. The lines and curves are punctuated by staccato passages of sitting birds, baroque tangles of wires, and the ornamentation of mysterious mechanical contraptions.

This series gets its name, Impromptus, from the musical pieces of the same name.  The photographs are meant to appear improvised and spontaneous, and some are whimsical while others are introspective.  The photographs explore the tension between order and chaos, between apparent spontaneity and careful underlying composition.  The simple white backgrounds let the range of lines and rhythms take the forefront, like a solo piano alone on the stage.

Ryan showed a strong interest in art since childhood, and first became involved with photography in college and graduate school.  Photography quickly evolved into a passion for him, and he developed an abstract style with which he explores the beauty hidden in everyday objects.  He is drawn to images that carry a certain meditative quality.  Part of this is achieved by using a sparse language of geometrical shapes, lines, and rhythms.  Furthermore, he often uses a narrow tonal range, so that the images are either overall dark or overall light, resulting in images that are contemplative, rather than emphatically assertive. 

 

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