Ryan David

I am a professional fashion photographer based in NYC and working globally.

My work reflects the romantic, private, thrilling, and fleeting glimpses of strangers passing each other in life with a rush of movement, emotion, and electricity. My photographs are often visually charged with longing, curiosity, lust, voyeurism, and sometimes even a touch of menace; that combination that can stir something deep and generate electricity, heat, and friction.

I've been fortunate to photograph for global brands such as BOSS, Stuart Weitzman, Hugo Jeans, & American Eagle; and to work with leading talent like Naomi Campbell, Gigi Hadid, Maluma, & Kim Kardashian.

I work on commercial campaigns, social media content, & lookbooks, and with individual models & talent to create beautiful, editorial-style photographs.

I've been an artist since my youngest days. Growing up I was completely immersed in my creative world, drawing & painting constantly, studying classical music, literature, & theatre before picking up a camera late in high school on my first trip abroad, to Paris. I began to take pictures of everything in my life - my family, friends, frequent travels … and especially life and friends here in my beloved home of NYC.

I spent many years as a hobbyist travel & street photographer, documenting life here in NYC and my many travels abroad, before transitioning into a focus on fashion & portraits. I still do quite a bit of street photography in my spare time, where I work on passion projects and use my camera as a way out the door and into the world. My first "big break" in photography came when a photograph of mine made in Florence, Italy, was found via Instagram and ultimately ended up as the cover photograph for an Italian magazine.

Today I draw inspiration from many of the great photographers of the 20th and early 21st centuries - icons such as Peter Lindbergh, Saul Leiter, Brigitte Lacomb, & William Klein - working to capture a sense of glamorous yet grounded reality in my photographs.

I come to photography via a parallel career of 15 years in brand strategy & creative consulting, working in executive roles at global creative agencies. In those roles I’ve guided some of the biggest brands on the planet, helping them to understand how to position themselves and show up in a way that will resonate in today’s saturated media environment.

I hold a BA from George Washington University and an MBA from Fordham University.