Ryan Tobin Schaefer: Don't Dream It, Be It

Emily Hi Ryan. The first question is always can you introduce yourself and why you chose this location, As You Are, which is a bar here in DC?

Ryan My name is Ryan, and I'm a photographer that lives here in Washington, DC. I chose this spot to do the interview, As You Are in Eastern Market, because it's a spot that's very special to me. I've been coming here since As You Are opened, and it's where I have produced shows. It's where I've performed. It's where I've made many of my closest friends in DC. So it's a spot that's very special to me.

Emily I’m really glad we were able to do it here, and they were very generous to let us use the space. You started photography in high school. So, how did that happen and what are some of your earliest memories related to it?

Ryan In high school, my mom got me my first DSLR camera. So I shot digital photography in high school. I'm sure that we had a dark room, and I actually regret not exploring that at the time because the resources were there. But I experimented with photography with my digital camera. I subjected my friends to photoshoots that were mostly in our bedrooms. We would dress up and put on makeup, and we would call it editorial photography. If I ever come across a photo of that era, I'm like, "That could use some work." But it was fun, and I was mostly using photography to document the people in my life at that time. I did a few paid gigs, which was really just a relative giving me $50. Like, "Oh, you have a camera? Go crazy." I put my camera down for a long time and I didn't pick it up again until probably later in college, and I wasn't shooting film yet at that time. So I was still digital.

Emily Sounds like a really cool journey. And eventually you ended up doing film photography, which is what you specialize in now. Can you talk a little bit about that and if there are any misunderstandings that you think people have about film photography or photography in general?

Ryan So I went to Emerson College in Boston. When I tell people that, they assume either I majored in musical theater or film, which I did not major in either of those things. I was a political communications student. But I was always surrounded by creatives in school and people that were making films and shooting on their analog cameras. And I always thought that I wasn't cool enough to shoot on film. Like the people, I tended to hold them up on a pedestal. I'm like, "Oh, they must have a lot of imposter syndrome. I think that's a misconception about analog photography or photography in general. You don't have to have aspirations of making the best thing ever or making art to pick up film photography. It is a steeper learning curve than digital, but with the resources that are available on YouTube, I believe that anyone could teach themselves how to do it. I eventually taught myself how to do it.

What finally got me to try it was I always liked my friend's work. And this friend was like, "You know, you can just go to a camera store and buy a film camera." And I was like, "Oh, that hadn't occurred to me." So it was here in DC. It was at District Camera where I went and I got my first film camera, and it's addicting. I will say if you do want to try film, you will be spending all of your money, but it's worth it.

Emily It's worth it is the important part. A lot of your photography has focused on queer culture. Can you talk a little bit about that and what queer culture means to you visually, whether that's certain colors or settings that you find yourself repeatedly finding in your photography?

Ryan Yeah. I think that happened by accident in the sense that I am a queer person. Most people in my life are queer. And I started photography just documenting my life and the people in my life that all happened to be queer. So as I was living in DC and attending community events, I would bring my camera along. So the first community event that I photographed in DC was DC Dyke March back in 2022. And some of those photos are still some of my favorites that I've ever taken.

Queer culture visually to me, when I think of those visuals, I think of camp. I think of vibrant saturated colors. I think of emotion. I think movements, drama, all of those things. So, I think that my eye has been trained to look for that when I'm taking pictures.

Emily It sounds like you’ve photographed both your friends and other people. Given kind of the personal nature of your subjects and the fact that you're focusing on queer culture, how do you build the trust necessary with your subjects to photograph them and capture really genuine moments with them?

Ryan Well, I think it definitely helps that I am a queer and trans person. So, if my subject is also queer and trans, I think that eliminates a lot of pressure on them to have to do any sort of explaining to me. I just kind of get it. Or there's just that immediate ease, I think, that comes with sharing that identity. But if it's someone I'm photographing who I don't know, I like to have a sort of warm-up with them, which might just be talking to them, having a conversation with them at least. Most of my subjects are not models and might feel awkward in front of the camera, or specifically what they might be looking for from me is a more vulnerable portrait. I've done a lot of gender-affirming portraits of people as they move through gender transitions. I like to give people prompts or like actionable prompts so that they're moving their bodies, they're not feeling awkward, and we can have fun together.

Emily It looks like from the final products that people feel comfortable and it's very genuine and vulnerable. So it's really cool that you're able to capture these kinds of moments with people and probably empower them in ways that only photography can. Going into the more admin side of photography, what's your process of preparing for a photoshoot?

Ryan So there's the logistics of preparing for a shoot. A lot of prep work goes into preparing for a portrait session. I usually speak with the client first, and I try to understand what their vision is and what they're hoping to get from the photoshoot. How they're going to use the photos determines a lot of how we approach the shoot. So, someone who wants a professional head shot, we might not be doing nude portraits in the woods, you know? So we're talking and having a conversation ahead of time. And then that kind of leads into the environmental factor. I like to understand where we're doing the shoot and what conditions that we're going to be shooting in. I like to overprepare. I like to bring different kinds of film stocks with me depending on different lighting situations. There might be equipment involved. So there's all that logistics that goes into planning and preparing for a shoot.

I’m actually working on preparing for my first real editorial shoot, not ones that I did in high school in my bedroom, but a real editorial shoot for a client. She had a very specific vision for like a Y2K editorial. And so a lot of the prep work for that has been scouring eBay for different props and things that I can use to really create the scene and the image that she's hoping to achieve her portfolio.

I have fortunately a lot of creative people in my life. So I love collaborating. I love creative thought partners in preparing for something more elaborate like that. But yeah, I have a lot of fun with that preparation process of photoshoots.

Emily Yeah. I’d imagine it's a lot of back and forth and exchanging ideas. I'm curious if you've ever run into a situation where you and your subject disagree on what the creative vision should be and if you have an approach to tackling that.

Thankfully that hasn't happened yet. The only instance where I could think where we might disagree is if I think what they're hoping to achieve might be impractical for film or the equipment that we have to work with. Or sometimes there's budget constraints because film itself can be expensive. Photography can be expensive. So I try to work my best to work within people's budgets. But I can become pretty scrappy when I need to. So fortunately, I haven't had to have any creative disagreements with clients. And when I'm doing client work in general, I view it as I'm making their vision come to life. So I would hope that they've reviewed my portfolio and they know my style, and that's why they're hiring me. But ultimately if it's client work, then I'm trying to bring their vision to life.

Ryan Definitely. I think every photoshoot I've done, I take away something different or new or I've learned something else because again I'm fully self-taught. I did not go to school for this. Actually Emerson did have the resources, and I regret not utilizing them to this day. But everything I learned has been through doing or through someone being kind enough to show me how. So I have pretty minimal studio experience. An area where I'm trying to get better at, lighting specifically for a studio space. I’m sorry, I'm totally blanking out your question. Could you ask it again?

Emily That kind of answers it. But sort of the second part was how conceptualize your photography as art, activism, business, whatever else it is and if that's changed over time too.

Ryan I think it depends on the project for sure. Like if I'm photographing DC Dyke March, which is a pretty political event, the photos take on a different meaning. The the subjects, whether it's what they're wearing or the signs that they're holding at a march or a protest, or the emotions on their faces, it takes on this whole new meaning. So in that way, it depends on what I'm choosing to photograph, and the subjects create meaning. I don't know. That might sound too abstract, but I am not always intending to make political work. But sometimes the timing is right, and the subject is right, and it takes on a life of its own.

Emily That's really cool. And I know you have your own kind of background in politics. Do you view that as connected to the photography that you do or do you try to keep your professional life and your creative life separate?

Ryan Weirdly enough, there's been some aspects of my work in campaigns and politics that have actually helped me in my photography, but not in the ways you would think — like not necessarily teaching me how to frame the shot. When I managed the mayoral campaign, there was a component to that work that was organizing the photoshoot for their mail pieces. I wasn't the photographer, but I was helping arrange her schedule that day. We kind of had everything planned down to the minute in terms of getting her from place to place, recruiting volunteers for the different things that we needed. And years later when a model approached me and wanted an editorial — kind of girl in the city was the vibe she was looking for, so there was multiple shooting locations, and we had minimal time in between getting from location to location — I remember thinking about that experience on a campaign quite a lot. That was the only other experience I had which was like planning someone's life down to the minute and getting somewhere in a timely way and getting the shot that we needed. So in that sense my work in politics has helped me in practical ways I would have never thought.

Emily That's interesting. So it's like the skills are transferable and the ideas are sometimes transferable as well. But maybe not always intentionally.

Ryan Yeah. Like I wouldn't say that my work in politics inspired a lot of creativity. So in that sense, I think I've separated those worlds quite a lot.

Emily Makes sense. And it's cool that you have both. So kind of moving into the set of questions that I ask every interviewee, the first one is, what would a close to perfect DC look like to you?

Ryan Close to perfect DC. Well, first of all, get the National Guard out of here. Get ICE out of here. I long for the days when that wasn't a presence in this city. I feel like, not to bring the mood down, but that has definitely changed the vibes quite a lot. But I think a perfect or ideal DC is statehood. If I could change one thing, that's what I would change. And just being able to walk around and breathe a little easier without the Guard here.

Emily What do you think statehood would bring for DC on the daily level?

Ryan Well, I think that there's the obvious, which is like empowered citizens that actually have a say and are able to vote. DC citizens can vote, but not having representation in Congress, it's quite frustrating.

Emily For sure. And that all kind of ends up impacting everything that we live within.

Yeah, being at the mercy of whoever is currently in the White House.

Ryan Something that I love about DC is that the community here is amazing. I feel like partially because DC is such a transient place, I never had a problem meeting new people and making friends. I think that is definitely my favorite part about DC. And I've picked up so many hobbies and skills in my time here. I know this interview is about photography, but I did standup comedy, and I produced shows, and through that I met so many people. So I would definitely say community and the people of DC is what has has kept me here.

Emily Cool. And speaking of people and community, who is someone who's been an inspiration to you?

Ryan I saw this question and I thought about it, and it was actually kind of a tricky question for me to answer because I have a lot of inspirations. There's DC specific ones, where people within my own circles I draw a lot of inspiration from. You know we're at As You Are and the co-owners of this place, Rach and Jo, shoutout. They are very inspiring to me in the sense that this place and their bar has been such a hub for creativity. I feel like you don't come across business owners very often that are so trusting and warm to new creative energy. There's been a lot of experimental shows that have happened here. I have produced some of them. It's just really amazing to see experimental, weird, maybe like borderline messed up queer art that happens here. And I credit Rach and Jo a lot for opening up their space to that. So I find a lot of inspiration in that.

Emily That's really cool. They seem like cool people from the kind of space that they've created, and just all of the great things that happen at this bar feels very unique. What is one personal goal that you're working toward right now?

Ryan I am trying to get better at black and white photography. I usually shoot in color and most of my client work is in color. But black and white photography is an entirely other skill set, and I don't shoot on black and white film very often. I want to more because it is slightly cheaper and it's easier also to develop on your own. So I've taken a few classes because again I didn't take advantage of a dark room in high school. I've taken classes at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, CHAW, on film development and print making. So I've been shooting more black and white and trying to train my eye to not see in color, which is a very hard thing to do.

Emily That's interesting. And I wonder how that intersects with the sort of vibrance that you described in your style, especially representing queer people. How does that kind of work?

Ryan I think when you take away color, color can sometimes distract the eye where if the photo is in black and white, I feel like it automatically takes on a more emotional meaning. So if I took a portrait of you right now in color and black and white, in a black and white photo, I probably would notice your facial expression more. Or the emotions I think come through a bit more intensely. So even though my eye is drawn to very vibrant, saturated colors and I love that in my photography, I did intentionally shoot DC Dyke March this year, for example, I shot Queer Oil Wrestling, which is another great community event, on color and black and white film. I knew that with the black and white, the emotion would come through much stronger. And it did. It's very cool.

Emily Feels like a very intentional form of photography that you're doing. What's a moment that you remember that captures what you enjoy most about the work that you do, whether it's photography or advocacy?

Ryan I think something about maybe it's the DC queer community or queer community in general, but I’ve noticed that when I'm going to photograph an event, I usually see the same people over the years. And it's interesting because I don't know them. They don't know me. If I'm able to, I like to give out my business cards if I'm shooting an event if someone would like to get their photograph later on. For the most part, I don't know these people. But I feel like I kind of know them through documenting these events over the years.

So back in 2022 when I shot DC Dyke March and then this year when I did and I was looking back through the photographs, there were people in them that I had photographed like four years ago, five years ago. So the same people keep showing up and keep coming back for these things. And there'll be crossover, so I might see them out at like a drag show or another event, but it is comforting in a weird way. Again, we don't know each other, but the consistency of showing up I think is comforting.

Emily That's really cool. It kind of brings us to the idea that like if you have an idea, if you want to do something, you can just go and do it in DC and just be in those spaces. Kind of like what you were saying about how you started photography, where you just started doing it.

Ryan Yeah. You know, Tim Curry recently passed away and I have been listening to a lot of Rocky Horror and the whole idea of like "Don’t Dream It, Be It." If you want to do something, if you have an idea, you can just do it. There's no rules.

Emily It's kind of exciting, kind of daunting. What's one piece of advice that you would give to others who are working toward a better DC?

Ryan That's a great question, and I'm trying to follow my own advice in this regard. But I think that for people that are trying to work toward a better DC, when you're feeling tired or discouraged like surrounding yourself with people, places, things that remind you of why you do what you do — I think that is really helpful or just brings you joy. I think it's so important to do things that make you happy. As you know, the vibes are bad right now. Not to get too dark on here, but I think it's especially important to do things that fill your cup and bring you joy. You're also allowed to be happy.

Emily That's a good reminder. It feels like definitely a dark time in DC, but there are so many great spaces to be in and like you said, so many cool people that you see outside all the time. It's good to give ourselves permission to be happy. And I know so many movements emphasize joy and being in community. And even if some sort of action isn't like the most productive in terms of creating political change or whatever it is, even just bringing people together is a win in itself.

Ryan Yeah. Screw productivity. Doing something that makes you happy — you don't always have to be producing or making. And again, I'm guilty of this myself because I'm very much constantly on the go, constantly doing something. Part of that is the ADHD of needing something to do. But it's good to slow down and go to an event just because, like leave the house. If you need to turtle for a while, turtle, but you know, go out the next day.

Emily And it sounds like you have a lot of activities that you do, whether it's photography or you mentioned comedy, coming out to this bar, whatever it is. You have so many ways to get outside. So that's awesome. This kind of brings us to the end, but one last thing is how can people engage with or support the work that you do?

Ryan Book me for your photo shoots. That's honestly the best way to support me and my work, is to hire me. But the next best thing is to follow me on Instagram. Film_by_ryan_ is my Instagram. My website's also Film by Ryan. And share it with people. If someone needs photographs and they want to hire a queer person or they just want to hire a good photographer, I’m both those things.

Emily Yeah, that's awesome. Well, thank you for doing this interview and sharing so much and I hope that people enjoy listening to you.

Ryan Thank you.