Happy 4th of July to all of you in the celebratory mood. I’m releasing this interview I had with Ryan Bussard about two weeks ago for your listening pleasure. Maybe you listen to it while you’re grilling, ignoring all the toddlers at your cookout, or water skiing. I’m just trying to make it accessible. You don’t have to be doing any of those things but I want you to know you have options.

I’ve known about Ryan’s work for a long time and we kept in touch over social media while I was living in LA. We both reached out a couple times for actual face to face coffee, in person, IRL, real time, but we never got it to happen. This is a problem with the social media machine…sometimes it makes us feel like we know a person or we’ve had some interaction, so we put it off again until next time. And then one of you moves to Seattle and there’s not really a likelihood of you having coffee any time soon. This is totally my experience, I’m not speaking for Ryan, but I feel like I’ve missed out on some things because I subconsciously mistook something on the internet for a *real* experience.

Ryan is a damn fine photographer, but he’s been doing experiments with “glitch” art…these digital derivations on top of (or inside?) photographs. I kind of gush over them with no real words to describe them during the interview. It’s pretty smooth, so check that out. Lots of pauses while I try to find a couple words that aren’t “cool” or “pretty.” But I think that when I’m stumped by art I know that something big is happening and that I’ve found something important. The long and the short of it is, I’m fascinated by the digital world we’ve found ourselves in, and they speak to that. Especially since he talks about “taking apart the images,” like a dissection or a surgery.

I’ve thrown in a couple of his illustrations as well, another reason I wanted to speak to him. I always feel like photographers are at this disadvantage expressing themselves because there are certain constraints with a camera. Especially if you are relying on others to collaborate with you. I’m always interested in the other ways photographers choose to be creative and how that manifests itself.

There’s some good origin stories of his images here, and some interesting thoughts on artists sticking to and not straying from, their own sexual preferences. It was a good talk, despite the inevitable lost call close to the end. There’s a bit of a hiccup, but I’m sure you’ll be able to keep up.

Go tell Ryan he’s neat, and better yet, ask him about buying a print or two.

@ryan_bussard

If you are an artist or know an artist that wants to talk some shit, let me know.

A Blog From Chris Fitzgerald

Posts tagged with photographer

Ryan Bussard, Artist Interview, Glitches and Such