Portland street photographer making waves on social media

PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) – A photographer is cultivating creativity and connection on the streets of Portland, and you may have seen his work.

“I do impromptu portraits, photography portraits of strangers,” said Ryan.

Capturing the many faces of Portland, creating interaction and art on the street with total strangers.

“I will approach, randomly, just people on the street and then do a mini photoshoot right there,” he said. “Sometimes it’s like a minute, sometimes it’s 10 minutes. I’ve had some go even longer, where we’re like completely vibing and having a fun time.”

“I create these reels for social media. It’s the video of me approaching, which is why I have the GoPro on. Then I interlace the portraits into the video, so it’s kind of a whole package experience for people,” Ryan continued.

FOX 12 was able to tag along with Ryan for one of his sessions.

So, what – or who – exactly is he looking for?

“I have a sensation, a pulling sensation when I cross someone, like, alright that’s who I want to do a portrait of,” he said. “It’s like impossible to describe because it’s a feeling.”

After about 15 minutes of walking, he found his first subject.

Ryan says it might look easy but approaching strangers takes guts.

“I think like, ‘wow, why am I doing this to myself, that is so painful,’” he said. “It’s like jumping into an ice bath. You just have to commit to it. Once you’re in, it’s shocking at first, then you calm down and you’re part of the experience.”

About 80% of the time, people are happy to spare a few minutes to create a new memory.

“I was a little caught off guard at first, but no, it was great,” Katie, one of the model’s, told FOX 12.

While FOX 12 tagged along, we noticed he kept getting recognized, and that may be because millions of people are watching his work, mostly on his Instagram page, Pale Blue Wave. It’s a metaphor for the ups and downs in his life, including hip surgery.

Hitting that low point is how Ryan discovered finding beauty in the mundane.

“Coming back from hip surgery, I had to do a lot of walking,” he said. “Throughout that walking, I realized I was neglecting a huge artistic part of my life.”

Now, he’s trying to do this full time: cultivating connection in a world of disconnect.

“One big theme, most people have big headphones on, or on their phones a lot,” he said. “But it’s nice to surprise someone out of that, bring them into the moment and create something together.”

So, lookout for Ryan if you’re walking around the city.

His work reaches 4 to 5 million people every month. Some of his videos have as many as 15 million views. He says 10% of his audience is from Portland, that’s nearly 20,000 people.

To see more of Ryan’s work, visit his Instagram page here.