Ryan McGinley

Known for: youth and body photography in the American landscape

Ryan McGinley became the youngest artist to receive a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, at twenty-five. He initially photographed his friends in New York apartments and on the street, working in close proximity and with available light. His later work took subjects on cross-country road trips, photographing them in the American landscape with a physical exuberance that distinguished him from the studied detachment of much of his generation.