A MODERN GHOST

Atlanta based Ryan Vizzions first discovered his passion for documenting his environment after returning to the United States from a trip around the world following his fathers suicide in 2009. Finding himself neck deep in The Red Shirt Protests, a civil uprise taking place in Bangkok, he soon realized the power of a photograph, and the stories it can tell. Ryan returned to Atlanta to help grow the photography community, and use his camera as a tool for social justice, focusing on human, civil, and environmental struggles from an independent photojournalism standpoint. 

In 2013, Vizzions got to work documenting his community around him, exploring abandoned buildings, the urban cityscape, and social issues taking place around the city. In 2014 he launched "Wander Never Wonder", a community based photography exhibition focused on showcasing local street and cityscape photography. Later that year, he was named "Best Fine Art Photographer" (voters choice) by Creative Loafing Atlanta. The following year he was named "Best Cityscape Photographer" (critics pick) from the same publication.  Vizzions has worked with brands such as Adidas Originals, The Atlanta Opera, A3C music festival, and many others. After traveling to Standing Rock in 2016 to provide media support, Vizzions gained worldwide notoriety with a series of viral photos that reached across the globe. One photo in particular, "Defend The Sacred", took the world by storm in November of 2016, reaching over 100 million people in one week helping draw attention to the issues taking place in North Dakota. In 2016, Vizzions' photojournalism was featured in People Magazine, Newsweek, Amnesty International, Mother Jones, Huffington Post,  ABC, Artsy.net, Mic.com, Creative Loafing, F-Stoppers, German Daily News (Germany), Newsphere (Japan), Les Editions du 8 mars (France), and many other publications and websites across the globe. In 2017, another photo from Vizzions, entitled "Higher Ground" was named Photos of the Year by both ABC News, and Guardian UK. In 2017, Vizzions signed with The Monroe Gallery (Santa Fe, NM),  a photojournalism gallery. The signing has placed his photographs on the same walls as some of the greatest photojournalists of all time. 

Blending a seamless relationship between fine art and photojournalism, Vizzions continues to focus on using his distinct style of photography to help bring light to social issues, and document the environment around him. Interested in working with larger publications, Ryan has been able to support his work independently through the sales of photo prints, and providing information via his Facebook news page, No Spiritual Surrender, which has amassed a following of over a quarter million people over the past year.