Wry, Quiet and Loud: An Interview with Ryan Schude

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap radius”]C[/dropcap]hicago born photographer, Ryan Schude creates beautiful and complex stories with light.  He currently lives in Los Angeles and works out of his studio and often at outdoor locations. Upon first meeting Schude, one would simply think he was a genuinely nice guy with a sharp sense of humor. You would never suspect the averred ideas surly swirling around in his head.  Bouncing between hauntingly sensitive and astutely whimsical, Schude’s images have an affection all their own.  He certainly follows the unspoken rule of, “if you look through the camera lens and you’ve seen the picture before, don’t take the picture.” When asked to describe himself in three words he responded with,” Wry, quiet and loud.”  With a solo show at Galerie 64bis in Paris, France and a publication in Time Magazine under his belt (simply to name a few), Schude is certainly someone you want to keep an eye on.  Never ceasing to amaze, he sat down with CULTURE to talk a bit about his inspirations, fashion dilemmas in preschool and his new book set to be published next year.

Your images all seem to have a very profound yet allusive emotional undertone. Are you ever trying to express a specific thought or emotion with a particular photograph? 

This varies from image to image. Many have specific narratives or concepts being conveyed but through the nature of their context, which usually has no written words or even a suggestive title, the viewer is left to their own devices to create what they can of a story from a single image.

What was one of the crazier experiences you’ve had while shooting?

We were on the top of a parking garage near LAX and just getting started on a 100 person group shot of the employees from an ad agency when the cops came to shut us down. Apparently due to the fog and amount of strobes we were using, the sky was lit up so intensely that it was causing a hazard for incoming aircraft. We had already spent the entire day setting up for this one shot and it was finally ready to go so it would have been a huge waste to try and figure out an alternative solution for a different day. I managed to convince the officer to give me 20 clicks of the shutter and there was no hiding these since each one illuminated everything around us. He literally counted down with me and what was supposed to be a couple of hours actual shooting time turned into five minutes. Luckily it all worked out perfectly but it could have took a turn in the opposite direction very easily.

What inspires and influences your photographs?

Many of the stories told in my photographs come from some sort of embellishment of an event I’ve seen or experienced. Others are pure fantasy.

Would you mind telling our CULTURE readers something they might not know about you?

I delayed my first day of preschool because I was so upset by the shirt I was wearing. It might be my earliest memory. It was a puke green and brown striped long sleeved collared shirt I would probably love these days. The teacher took it off to reveal a red t-shirt with a picture of a lion on it and I remember nodding that all was well if I was allowed to continue as is. This is most likely only interesting to me.

What are your thoughts on the growing momentum of the legalization of cannabis movement? 

I haven’t done the research necessary to form an educated opinion on this but my gut reaction is that there are a large variety of issues in which policy makers can be spending their time with other than opposing what appears to be inevitable at this point.

Do you have any new projects you’re currently working on?

I am releasing five new tableaux at a solo show in Istanbul this October, so I am currently finishing those up. There is also a limited edition, oversized book of my work set to be published next year.

www.ryanschude.com