Ryan Brinkman
I view my work typically as encompassing moments captured on my travels, usually up and down the California coast. These photographs are made both digitally and on 35mm film. I usually attempt to recreate the typical “tourist” shots of famous locations or attractions, but put my own spin on them. It lends itself to my personal philosophy of attempting to view the world differently.
This project moves away from my comfort zone of taking photos of inanimate objects or places, and moves towards photographing humans in uncomfortable situations. I took inspiration from Beth Yarnelle Edwards in her project “Suburban Dreams,” where she recreates photographs taken in a time frame spanning sometimes over twenty years. This project led me to view how my own family dynamics have changed over my life, from the typical nuclear family while I was a child, to a divided household following the divorce of my parents in 2019. I juxtapose how my parents, who live apart now, still do a lot of the same things as the other, just in a different household. This project also explores how home for me has changed over the years, as I learn what having two Christmases or Thanksgivings looks like, and what home to me is, whether it be physical or a feeling/emotion.
