Ryan McGinley’s Sweet Birds of Youth

In 2003, at just 25 years old, Ryan McGinley became the youngest photographer to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum, debuting the early groundwork for what would become his signature: generation-defining portraits that celebrate the youthful hedonism within subcultures of downtown New York. Having since orchestrated numerous books, exhibits, and summers of road trips filled with photographs of young, naked, and fancy-free subjects, McGinley has matured, mastering an ever evolving and eye-catching style. As seen in VF.com’s exclusive selection from McGinley’s first retrospective monograph, You and I (Twin Palms Publishers), the 33-year-old New Jersey native shares his decade-long “fantasy life”—displaying both his formative days of capturing unbridled inhibition and his current aspirations to explore more cinematic avenues.