Brooke T Ryan

Studies have shown that spending time in nature - and even viewing images of nature - reduces stress and promotes relaxation. I photograph the natural world and create art that brings beauty and a sense of calm to living and working spaces around the globe.

At age 12, I photographed in the woods and fields behind my house with my dad’s 1940s rangefinder camera. That year, I also saved and bought a telescope, searching the night sky for celestial objects, relishing the quiet and calm beneath the black, star-studded blanket. I babysat some more and bought darkroom equipment. My dad built a little observatory on the hill behind our house and a darkroom space in the basement where I developed gelatin silver prints from my 35mm film.

By day, I was out with my camera, marveling at nature and capturing the beauty here on Earth. By night, I was regularly gazing through time and space, mesmerized by the vastness of the universe. I wondered about Earth’s significance within that space.

As I age, I am aware of how quickly life goes by, how it is comprised of a collection of fleeting moments. I find myself coveting the effects of the changing seasons: Leaves budding, unfurling, changing color, then falling. Birds building nests, raising young, and migrating. The brief appearance of shadows during those precious sunny days in Central New York State. The ephemeral beauty of trees reflecting on water once the ice melts. The amorphous forms of clouds. Waves rolling to shore, erasing sand ripples, and then disappearing.

All of this can be seen and captured with cameras, but humans are only capable of seeing some of the light emitted by the sun: Visible light. Cameras are fitted with a filter blocking other light – ultraviolet and infrared - so that photographs reflect how we see the world. I had that filter removed, so my photographs now reveal a realm that extends beyond our vision. It is recognizable, yet with an ethereal glow and an altered color palette, prompting us to pause and notice aspects of the world around us that we all too often overlook, inviting us to consider what is beyond what we see and perceive.

Through time behind my camera, experimental processes, and manipulation while editing, my photographic art serves as a reminder of what we must preserve here on Earth.

My art has been sold by major retailers such as Anthropologie, Macy's, Wayfair, and Pier 1, is in private collections around the world, and has been included in numerous exhibitions:
2025
Botanical: The Art of Plants, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT

Botanical, A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX

Life in Motion, Cape Cod Art Center, Barnstable, MA

2024
Solo Exhibition, Cazenovia Public Library, Cazenovia, NY

Sanctuary, A. Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX (Juror: Kevin Tully)

Monochrome, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT (Juror: Henry Horenstein); Honorable Mention

Square, Decode Gallery, Tucson, AZ (Juror: Holly Hart)

2022
AREA SHARE, The Art Gallery at Cazenovia College, Cazenovia, NY

2021     
Quiet Landscape, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT (Jurors: Jacob and Alissa Hessler)

Quiet Landscape, Online Exhibition, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT (Jurors: Jacob and Alissa Hessler)

Hometown, Auburn Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

Primary Colors, Online Exhibition, New York Center for Photographic Art, New York, NY; Juror’s Selection, an international call-for-entry, (Juror: Ann M. Jastrab, Executive Director, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA)

2020    
Winterfest Exhibition, Cazenovia Public Library, Cazenovia, NY

2019     
Member’s Exhibition, Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, Cazenovia, NY

Interpretation, Online Exhibition, Cape Cod Art Center, Barnstable, MA

Caz Arts Alliance Members’ Show, Cazenovia College Art Gallery, NY

In Motion - Juried Online Exhibition - Cape Cod Art Center, Barnstable, MA

Solo Exhibition, Common Grounds, Cazenovia, NY

2018     
fPOE Group Show, Hotel 1857, Paducah, KY

2016     
fPOE Group Show, Janice Mason Art Museum, Cadiz, KY

All Cape Cod, Cape Cod Art Association, Barnstable, MA

2014     
Inspirations, Cape Cod Art Association, Barnstable, MA

2013      
Points of View, Cape Cod Art Association, Barnstable, MA

2012     
Photography Exhibit, Arts Alliance, Hudson MA

Ghosts, Spirits & Past Lives, Arts Alliance, Hudson, MA

Points of View, Cape Cod Art Association, Barnstable, MA

2011      
Birds and Nests, Mariposa Art Gallery, East Sandwich, MA

2010     
Artists of Madison County, Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, Cazenovia, NY

2005     
Solo Exhibition - Common Grounds, Cazenovia, NY