Mick Ryan has a rich background in Fine Art and advertising which brings a high level of aesthetic value to his photography combined with a keen understanding of clients professional needs.

Mick graduated from Crawford College of Art and Design with a degree in Fine Art in 1989. Mick learned the traditional structures of art and a was able to develop a mature visual sense that has been the strength beneath his photography from the beginning.

Shortly afterwards he entered the world of advertising as an art director and worked his way up to Creative Director where he worked on some of the world's biggest brands: Guinness, Budweiser, Volkswagen, Motorola as well as leading Irish banks (AIB, Ulster Bank and EBS), airlines (Aer Lingus, Ireland's national airline) and many others leading accounts.

This not only gave Mick a lot of experience with big budget campaigns for blue chip clients but exposed him to a deep understanding of the clients and their needs as well as a keen knowledge of their brands and target markets. He brings all of this experience to his photography and his communication with clients.

However Mick didn't learn everything in Europe. He left Ireland immediately after graduation for London and then on to Japan where he lived for 3 years in the early 90s. Working in Japan had a huge impact on his visual style and it can be seen in his uncluttered compositions. Mick's interest in photography blossomed in Japan alongside his design work and he had his first successful exhibition in Kobe in 1993 where he was awarded 'Best Newcomer' in an international photography exhibition.

Before turning to photography full time throughout his years as an art director Mick's work has featured in international exhibitions and famous publications throughout the world. His exhibitions in Japan, USA, China and Ireland have sold many prints to support his personal work. While magazines like American Photo, B&W Photography and Camera & Darkroom have featured his work in articles or on the covers or awarded his work prizes.

Mick is a member of the Royal Photographic Society one of the world's oldest photographic institutions where his work has won awards and been featured in many of their publications both in print and online.

His many awards and publications have garnered attention from some of the biggest names in photography. Renowned for the high quality of his photography especially when printed famous fine art printer Robin Bell claimed he couldn't tell the difference between one of Mick's digital prints and a traditional dark room print. In the book Renaissance Photography 'Forgiveness' by Mick Ryan was chosen as 1 of 60 images out of thousands for the publication. The judges were none other than Martin Parr and Brigitte Lardinois from the famous Magnum photo agency. (For a more detailed list of Mick's publications, awards and exhibitions please see the Awards section of this website.) He was also invited to photograph famous celebrities Tom Cruise, Ed Norton and Tiger Woods.

Mick flies worldwide shooting for clients and handles jobs as small as one day shoots but also handles multi continent shoots that include several weeks of photography and organization. He always brings that same high level of creativity, understanding and professionalism to his work and has a long list of high level satisfied clients.