Happy 2021! Here’s a preview of some photo sets I'm planning to release in the first half of the year. See the second photo for labels. The next big photo set will be Emil, coming very soon.
A few other updates...
While we've all been stuck inside during the covid crisis, I asked my followers on instagram to send me photos of themselves for a new ongoing project I'm calling 'The Quarantine Collage". Even the most lonely selfie can be transformed into a living piece of art with a little digital magic! Send me a message if you also want to join the collage!
Today, I'm featuring these beautiful ...
2021-01-23 06:59:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's another Nick set from the vault- a throwback to one of my earlier photo shoots with a boy I dated in 2018. This was my first bedroom shoot, an incredibly intimate location for portraits. Soft lamplight illuminating tentative smiles, and smooth skin against plaid bedsheets.
In these photos I can sense my cautious energy as I struggled to come to terms with my first foray into...
Spanish Artist Alfonso Del Moral painted my photos of Ryan and Grant, which I then used to edit and collage together with the original photos. In my edits, Alfonso's strokes cover the nudity and/or perceived eroticism of my work, creating more of what I've been calling my "censorship art". I love nude art that can push the boundaries of what is considered acceptable in online platforms and by m...
2021-01-09 22:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
December’s featured photo set is from my second shoot with the lovely Ryan! (Yes, we share the same name!)
A fan of my work, Ryan reached out on instagram, telling me that he would love to model nude, although he had never tried anything like it before. A 20-year-old college film student, he was excited to discuss and contribute to the creative direction of the photoshoot. We shared our...
2020-12-26 22:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
While we've all been stuck inside during the covid crisis, I asked my followers on instagram to send me photos of themselves for a new ongoing project I'm calling 'The Quarantine Collage". Even the most lonely selfie can be transformed into a living piece of art with a little digital magic! Send me a message if you also want to join the collage!
Today, I'm featuring these beautiful ...
2020-12-19 22:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
A flashback to my very first male portrait photoshoot in October 2016 with a college pal of mine. Anthony is a handsome swimmer and gamer who has collaborated with me on quite a few film projects over the years. He's outwardly assertive and masculine, but quite sweet, kind and obedient once you get to know him in front of a camera... with a kind of mysterious, devilish quality that came out dur...
2020-12-12 22:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Embroidery artist Rhys, of XXX Embroidery, created a digital trace of this photo of my model, Ryan. I thought it was so beautiful, I decided to collage and edit it alongside the original photo, adding to my ongoing series of "censorship art". I love creating nude art that can push the boundaries of what is considered acceptable in online platforms and by my community as a whole. Why, a...
2020-12-05 22:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
November’s featured photo set is my second shoot with the magnificent Dio!
Back in late 2018, Dio was the first person to pose completely nude for this portrait series- a very fond memory of mine. Only 18 at the time, he possessed an incredible confidence in his body and expression that inspired me so much. A classical violist and computer scientist, Dio is kind, contained and polite, w...
2020-12-01 01:42:42 +0000 UTC View Post
While we've all been stuck inside during the covid crisis, I asked my followers on instagram to send me photos of themselves for a new ongoing project I'm calling 'The Quarantine Collage". Even the most lonely selfie can be transformed into a living piece of art with a little digital magic! Send me a message if you also want to join the collage!
Today, I'm featuring these beautiful ...
2020-11-21 22:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
I captured this wonderful texture in my high-contrast portraits of Nick- simply with shadows from a rainy car window. I originally got the idea when taking a selfie (see the last photo in this album).
These shots are from one of my earliest photo shoots, during a date with a boy named Nick. In these photos I can sense my tentative energy as I struggled to come to terms with my firs...
Gerardo Vizmanos is a photographer based in London and New York. He studied at the School of Visual Arts and has exhibited and featured in many publications. I have been following his lovely work over the years, publishing his photos on my instagram page. I even bought his most recent book!
Today I share with you a collaboration between Gerardo and myself, in which I created a few edits/c...
2020-11-07 22:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
A few months ago, I was able to plan out a safe and properly social distanced photo shoot with the gorgeous Andrew Haan. Andrew is a unique beauty; 21 years old, half-chinese, slender but with an extremely chiseled physique that he works hard at while in quarantine in Vermont. He's always joking, grinning wildly and sticking out his tongue at the camera. Unlike the first time we shot, he had no...
2020-10-31 03:01:30 +0000 UTC View Post
One of my favorite hobbies is recoloring my favorite images. I particularly love isolating and augmenting certain colors to highlight and bring life to certain aspects of a photograph. This technique can be found all across my portrait work. Featured here is my recoloring of the work of my own work, vintage photographers, unknown photos from Tumblr/Pintrest/etc, and the followi...
2020-10-28 15:40:25 +0000 UTC View Post
Grant and I met this summer to explore the woods together for a new photoshoot. It was a wonderful break from quarantine to be outdoors and creating again. We couldn’t have asked for better weather. We began our work in wonderfully soft light, shrouded by storm clouds, continuing to shoot through a rejuvenating rainstorm that cleared to a sunny afternoon. This allowed for a wonderful progress...
2020-10-11 01:23:56 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi everyone, Ryan here!
In the middle of editing this past month's full shoot with Grant I experienced another instagram censorship scare. @bnwboys was wrongfully deactivated for the 4th time, and I quickly rushed to fight back and save the page.
Luckily, it only took several days of appealing this time- and we're back up! But alas, I will now be posting Grant early in Octo...
I love collecting and restoring vintage photos to use as inspiration for my shoots. I wish I could find the photographers of these photos and thank them for having the courage to take photos like these in a time when it was even less acceptable than it is now. There's something about vintage photos that has always inspired me. A raw, naturalistic look that isn't sought after anymore.
2020-09-19 22:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
I happened across these volleyball players at the beach, and asked to photograph their game. What lovely, sandy camaraderie between grinning friends, a stunning display of friendship and youthful physique.
“My life is shaped by the urgent need to wander and observe, and my camera is my passport.” - Steve McCurry
2020-09-12 19:26:35 +0000 UTC View Post
August's model is Narciso, a beautiful boy from Mexico!
Art museum director and sweet beauty Narciso was visiting the United States this past winter, so we finally got to do a shoot! He's a long-time fan of my instagram page @bnwboys and I even featured him a few times over the years, so it was incredible to meet him in person. He chose his model name 'Narciso' after the greek myt...
One of my favorite hobbies is recoloring my favorite images. I particularly love isolating and augmenting certain colors to highlight and bring life to certain aspects of a photograph. This technique can be found all across my portrait work. Featured here is my recoloring of the work of vintage photographers, unknown photos from Tumblr/Pinterest/etc, and the following known sou...
2020-08-22 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's a set from the vault- a throwback to one of my earliest photo shoots during a date with a boy named Nick. In these photos I can sense my tentative energy as I struggled to come to terms with my first foray into the dating world.
In this early work, you can already see my affinity for boys in nature, smooth glowing skin and color isolation. Meeting and learning to love...
I love collecting and restoring vintage photos to use as inspiration for my shoots. I wish I could find the photographers of these photos and thank them for having the courage to take photos like these in a time when it was even less acceptable than it is now. There's something about old black and white photos that has always inspired me. A raw, naturalistic look that isn't sought after anymore...
2020-08-05 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
July's model is Matthew!
After connecting on instagram, Matthew and I rented a hotel room in southwestern Connecticut to explore with my camera. A longtime follower and aspiring model, Matthew trusted my vision and allowed me to pose him throughout the building in various states of undress. Checkered boxers in bed. Sports jersey on the concrete steps outside. Mardi gras beads and ti...
2020-07-31 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Today I collaged 3 vintage photos of a beautiful boy joyously frolicking through a fountain in tight sodden briefs. The first 2 are my digital edits, followed by the 3 original photos- I can't find the source anywhere online.
I'm pretty happy with the way the "3 boys" now seamlessly interact with each other in my final piece. One boy coyly hides from the others, one bends down to ga...
2020-07-19 06:04:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone, Ryan here. We're halfway through 2020! But I still have many incredible photo sets to edit and release. I hope you are safe and well, and your support is greatly appreciated, especially during this time.
I wanted to give you some updates on what else I have planned for this year! I will continue posting monthly full shoots and weekly updates with smaller phot...
June's model is Nikolai! A longtime muse of mine, you probably remember him from my previous photo sets as the adorable, 21-year-old Russian-born artist who loves exploring angels and demons in his work. For this shoot, we created photo art of an exciting new kind. Covering the walls of Nikolai's apartment with paper and breaking out a large pallet of paint, both the boy and his room became an ...
2020-06-25 15:31:35 +0000 UTC View Post
I love collecting vintage photos to use as inspiration for my shoots. I wish I could find the photographers of these photos and thank them for having the courage to take photos like these in a time when it was even less acceptable than it is now. There's something about old black and white photos that has always inspired me. A raw, naturalistic look that isn't sought after anymore. Does anyone ...
2020-06-22 10:20:29 +0000 UTC View Post
During a trip to the beach, I noticed some beautiful lifeguards at work and grabbed my camera. They have now become bnwboys. Which color variation do you prefer- black & white boy against blue ocean, or warm, tanned skin against black & white waves?
2020-06-22 10:20:22 +0000 UTC View Post
The history of homoeroticism in wrestling is as old as the first olympic games in ancient Greece. In fact, the original male contestants were nude and free, a joyous, voyeuristic celebration of the youthful male form, in time when sexual relations between men did not conflict with masculine sport identity. Today, wrestling and other similar sports often remain a complicated contradiction of mal...
2020-06-09 07:29:34 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm happy to announce Andrew has returned to Boys by Ryan, this time completely nude and uninhibited-- so much more to come!!
A few weeks ago, I was able to plan out a safe and properly social distanced photo shoot with the gorgeous Andrew Haan. It was tricky, but more than worth it, as you'll see. Now 21 years old, Andrew is smooth and slender, but with an incredibly chiseled physique th...
2020-05-30 17:44:43 +0000 UTC View Post