Ryan Molnar: Poetic, Emotional, Intuitive

Visual Poetry of Minimalist Photography

Ryan Molnar is a California-based artist with a rich portfolio and poetic attitude. He produces photography, video, installations, and, along with his artistic projects, he works on commercial projects for magazines, brands, and other artists. When it comes to photography, Molnar easily moves from black and white to color, from landscapes to portraits, from urban life to minimalist perspectives. His works are fluid and convey movement and sensitivity.

Although Molnar plays the card of spontaneity and improvisation, his compositions are well-structured, the color palettes are chosen wisely. His visual poetry incorporates rhythm and color and varies from romantic to dramatic. Regardless of the variety of subject matters and attitudes, there’s a constant in Molnar’s works: attention to detail. Nothing goes unseen or unexploited by the curious eye of the artist.

I try to be extremely open to everything around me and improvise, reacting to the moment. I believe being fully present is the best way to make successful images. Whenever I try to plan an idea too much, I usually am unhappy with it.

Ryan explored his Hungarian heritage in the photo book Mirror Of Past And Future (2018). The photos were taken in Hungary and cover his family history, collective trauma, architecture, and time. It is a personal and spiritual project that reveals the artist’s roots and produces a complex mix of abstracted urban environments, landscapes, and found photographs. Molnar’s artistic journey took him around the United States and Europe. The versatility and openness given by travel are visible in his body of work.

Confined in the US because of the pandemic, the photographer works on covering the landscape of the American West and documenting change and ambiguity around the country.

I am currently working on an open-ended body of work that explores the landscape of the American West and the idea of liminality. Liminal states are in-between states where nothing is certain, and everything is possible – I think it is a good metaphor for the current state we are in with American politics, Climate Change, and Covid-19.

Soft and eclectic, Ryan Molnar’s minimalist photography explores a range of ambiguous topics. From portraits to landscapes, each work speaks for itself, creating a dreamy link between the artist, the subject, and the viewer.

Ryan Molnar
Website – Instagram

Article written by Monica Radulescu