ryan draybuck
photography
Gateways
Project statement
I think of this project as a way for me to map my mind. I’ve always wanted to build another world that I can go to when I need an escape. I’m often drawn to patterns and symmetry, and am fascinated by the idea of a perfect place.
The physical traits of these constructions take on the impressions of my consciousness and visually reflect the thoughts, feelings, and emotions inside. Potential futures and the wonder of the unknown are themes that bleed into this work.
When I let my consciousness roam, it often goes to memories of the past that can never be recreated the same way. By constructing these spaces, transforming them with light, and photographing them, I am cementing them in time just as they were upon creation. This way I am able to revisit these spaces exactly how I first imagined them.
“I chose Ryan Draybuck for the Hokin Honors Award because of his incredible work ethic, creative vision, and desire to spend time perfecting each of his photographs. Ryan started working on this series less than a year ago, and until then, had never constructed miniature environments. Using this new language to make images, he persevered through the complications of hand building, and learned to use the tools and techniques needed to create the illusion of large-scale spaces. I am impressed with his ability to make photographs that take the audience into a new reality.
Ryan Draybuck’s fantastical photographs transport us into a location of unsettling calm. The brightness and use of a controlled palette of color creates a passive space, while the emptiness, long corridors, and glowing windows lead one to feel as a specimen being watched. These places seem to occur in a futuristic world, inescapable and infinite. The images keep us wondering, who, what, when, where, and why? Draybuck never gives us the answers, instead, viewers are left to contemplate these questions, and construct their own invented narratives.”
— Alison Carey, Professor, Photography
“Ryan Draybuck is a photographer from the moment he wakes up and until he goes to bed and then perhaps dreams about it then too. He is always experimenting but, in the end, he understands - through all of that - the most important thing is light. It’s what photography is about.”
— Paul D’Amato, Professor, Photography