When we first approached Ryan McGinley through his gallery, it wasn’t in fact to ask him for an interview for mono.kultur. Actually, we proposed to produce a book with him accumulating the entire body of work produced during his infamous road trips – a series of summer trips over the time span of five years, amounting to 365 days of summer – which spawned some of the images that McGinley has by now become famous for. Not that we didn’t think Ryan would make for a great issue – which he did – we just knew that we would be frustrated to condense such an amazing body of work into the small format of the magazine. Of course, it was a slightly preposterous and somewhat naive suggestion to put this project into our hands, but you can’t blame us for trying – and anyway, isn’t naivety underrated?
Needless to say, his gallery said no, partly because another publisher was already on the case at the time. 4 years later, said book finally has been released to the world, under the title of You and I. While the main focus lies on the series of road trips, it also gathers the most iconic images of his early work in New York, as well as some later outdoor shots, omitting mainly his more recent studio portraits. Of course, it’s great to see all this wonderful work finally presented in one volume, and Ryan’s photography still doesn’t fail to impress. Nonetheless, You and I is a somewhat disappointing experience. Published a year or two too late, it’s mainly the production that is a let down – while it’s beautifully printed, format, paper, design and editing all feel mediocre at best, not even trying to aim higher than your average coffee table book, but always with an eye on the balance sheet. Or, to put it even more brutally: You and I turned out a loveless affair. Which really couldn’t be more at odds with its content.
So would we have done better? Of course there is no way of saying, but we do know this amazing body of work deserved more. It’s a funny thing with photography books – sometimes they really can serve a series of images, but they can also take away immensely when not done right. And it has become once again more than obvious: As in any creative field, there are people and companies in it for a true love of what they are doing, or they are in it for the wrong reasons. And you can always tell.
Ryan McGinley: You and I
Published by Twin Palms Publishers
196 Pages / 90 Colour Plates
