Ryan McGinley

BY: PROVOKR Staff

In 2003—at the age of 25—Ryan McGinley became the youngest artist to be given a solo show at New York’s Whitney Museum. That show, titled “The Kids Are Alright,” featured photographs that documented the lives of McGinley—who cites Larry Clark as an inspiration—and his frequently-naked friends as they hung out, got drunk, had sex and did drugs. “One of my favorite things to do back then would be to go out and get completely demolished and take tons of photos,” said McGinley. “Then I’d get the film developed and they were like evidence of whatever I had done that night because I usually couldn’t remember any of it.” For his latest book, titled Ryan McGinley: Way Far, McGinley went on cross-country road trips photographing his nude models in various natural settings, capturing the beauty of being set free in the wilderness. “Just the idea of someone taking off their clothes is really exciting and also just watching the human body and studying it with a camera is just something that makes me smile and I think it’s really beautiful,” McGinley has said. “When I am shooting people nude it takes me to this other place.” Watch this video to see some of the spectacular photos from McGinley’s book.