Art in Mancunia: Ryan Gear

In an ‘Art in Mancunia‘ interview with Ryan, he describes how his work “explores our city environments and uses the lens to offer a different perspective on our surroundings.” The untitled series captures various urban environments within Manchester, with a focus upon line and geometric angles.

In fact, Ryan explains how he is “very strict and careful with [his] composition” creating a distinctive aesthetic. He describes how he is constantly “manoeuvring [his] surroundings in a specific manner to block out the noise.” When considering his work, it is true that the photographs capture moments of calm stillness in a chaotic city environment.

 “I like to give an alternative perspective and look at my surroundings as shapes,” Ryan explains, describing how he “looks into the overlooked and unnoticed.” Ryan’s creative process consists of giving “an alternative perspective” whilst “looking at [his] surroundings as shapes, not just banal buildings. The deconstruction of the mundane and the habitual is central to the artist’s work.

This photographic series, however, diverges from the general stereotype surrounding landscape photography. Ryan describes how his aim “was to work strictly within our concrete worlds,” highlighting an alternative way of viewing our surroundings. Whilst the stereotype of landscape photography focuses on the rural and natural, Ryan claims that photography is “much more complex and close to home than that. We should be looking at all of our landscape. Looking deep into our city environments and finding beauty in it.” 

Ryan Gear looks beyond the surface, transforming seemingly unimportant cityscapes into individual pieces of beauty. Despite the realm of photography becoming more accessible — with the rise of technology and social media — Ryan believes “now is an important time for more creative and experimental ways of working to be established within photography and art.” This young artist is working towards bringing thought back into an art form which is becoming more and more habitual and, often, mindless.