Bill Clearlake's Introduction

Tony Ryan - Photographer of Nudes

by Bill Clearlake* 

TONY RYAN photographs nudes. Through his photographs he shows the many expressions of human sexuality from the most innocent to the most sophisticated. Yet all of Tony's photographs present the simple beauty of the human form devoid of Hollywood glamour or back-alley crassness. Tony's sharp eye catches his subjects being themselves, and the natural sexuality of his subjects is revealed.

Tony was ten years old when he saw his first naked female - a seven-year-old. This began his fascination with the female form. At fifteen years of age, Tony defied his Catholic upbringing and purchased Philip Goltop's "Figure Photography" by mail order. The book included full-page nudes on one page and instructions on camera technique and lighting on the other. At eighteen years old, Tony took his first nude photograph - of his ten-year-old sister. Needless to say, his parents were even less amused by this than they were of finding his book on nude photography! Tony continued his hobby for another fourteen years until he finally went to art school. Through formal study, his photographs improved.

As a mature artist, Tony's technique shows a solid grasp of the technical aspects of photography and the formal elements of composition, lighting, and photographic printing. Yet the curious ten-year-old boy still lives as expressed in the striking honesty, and simplicity of Tony Ryan's work.

Tony sculpts his subjects in light and shadow in the manner of Edward Weston. Edward Weston's style was to abstract his subjects to show only the form - his models became objects, still lifes made of human flesh. Tony manages to bring out the abstract form of his subjects, yet he captures their souls as well. In these photographs you find the beauty of the human form, and the pensiveness, playfulness, or seriousness of his models. You peek into their lives and into their hearts and find where the true beauty of his subjects lie. Through light and shadow, Tony Ryan reveals soul and substance.

Tony Ryan's love of humanity is revealed in his photographs as well. Rodan moulded his models like clay - forcing them into postures that were unnatural and even painful. Tony's treats his subjects in the gentle manner of a friendly intruder - he is invited into his models' lives. The poses are natural and capture the essence of the subject rather than the will of the artist. Comparing Tony Ryan's photographs with those of Robert Maplethorpe one finds certain comparisons in subject matter and even in composition. But in style, Maplethorpe was closer to Weston in his cool abstraction of form, while Tony's camera touches warmly, gently, lovingly.

Tony captures the mood and the moment in the life of his subjects. Whether the setting is outdoors, in his subjects' private space, or in the studio, Tony's eye peers into their inner world and brings the viewer closer to his models' perspectives. After viewing Tony's photographs I feel like I learned more of how his subjects live, who they are, and how they see themselves.

Tony Ryan's work is personal and immediate. His photographs have the quality of documentary. You are seeing his subjects as they are, without commentary. Tony's models came to him, wanting to share something of themselves with the world. Tony finds that something, that unique expression of self, in each of his models and makes that expression tangible to all who view his work.

Tony's photographs are controversial. The ages of Tony's subjects range in age from seven years old to late thirties. Some of his subjects express unusual sexual lifestyles. All of Tony's photographs are personal statements of freedom, wholeness, and naturalness. To express freedom, wholeness, and naturalness in the midst of conformity, conservatism, and paranoia is certainly controversial. Apart from the subject matter of his photographs, the candid nature of Tony's nudes makes viewing them a very personal experience, which is the essence of great art.. Ultimately, controversy and great art offer us new ways to see ourselves.

*Bill Clearlake

Bill Clearlake has background in Television and Film Production with Ram-z II Productions in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ram-z II Productions produced the series "Azizi The African Story Teller" for WIIC TV, "Black Horizons", and "Rappin' " for WQED TV, and the special program "The Turned On Crisis" which was a community forum discussion of Pittsburgh's growing drug problem that also aired on WQED TV, Pittsburgh.

Bill Clearlake is also an amateur photographer, musician, writer, historian, and futurist who currently earns his living as a Computer Software Engineer. Bill studied photography at the Academy Of Art College in San Francisco specializing in natural light photography and candid portraiture. As a musician, Bill has produced music for the films "Off White" and "The Eight Treasures" both produced by RamCity Productions, of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and Los Angeles, California.

In 1985, Bill Clearlake was a guest curator at the Oakland Museum in Oakland, California. He produced the exhibit "They Changed Our Lives: Contributions of Nine Black Inventors". As a writer and futurist, Bill has put his essays and his novel "The Mercenary" on-line at his World Wide Web page, "MindStation X". The URL for "MindStation X" is:

Mindstation