- What is your favorite shirt? I have 2 vintage Calvin Klein dress shirts that i couldn't live without!
- Last movie watched? Lady in the Water. i cried... alot!!
- Tie or open collar? Skinny ties!!!! .
- Do you feel that the Tampa bay Area is a viable area for working artists? Working artist? I'm not sure. I don't know many artists who make a living off of their art. But i think its getting better. Personally, I really appreciate being able to work a full-time job that allows me the opportunity to do what i love in my spare time. And when i make a sale it definitely feels good, but i don't do it for that reason.
- If not what needs to be done locally to make the area more artist friendly? Good question and i wish i had the answer. I think its great when someone comes out to a show and buys a piece from a local artist. The prices are really reasonable most of the time and its a great way to support the art scene!
all photos (c) Ryan Prado
local
art: Ryan Prado 
Born and raised in Tampa, Florida, Ryan Prado graduated form the University of South Florida in May 2005 with a BFA in Photography. He descibes his work as "a series of self portraits (even though his face does not appear in a majority of the images), that descibe his fantasies, experiences, fears and inner most thoughts, exposing them for everyone to see. His influences include pop culture, fashion, and the works of Guy Bourdin and David LaChapelle.
Your photos
depict your subjects as larger than life as well as serving as pieces
of artwork in themselves. Give us an idea of the creative process that
goes into a Ryan Prado photo shoot.
Ryan Prado:It usually starts with a lyric from a song or just some random
thought. Then i start to think about what kind of set, props and wardrobe
would work best. I usually have a pretty good idea of the final image
in my head before i start shooting and most of the time, my final image
looks nothing like that initial idea!
You recently
had the honor of doing the cover of the premiere issue of Orange magazine.
Tell us a little about that.
RP:It's always been one of my dreams/goals to do a magazine cover! I was
so excited to be asked to do their very first cover! Since it's a magazine
that deals with the 3rd shift i wanted to do something that represented
Tampa's nightlife! To me, the girl is this larger than life character
taking the city by storm, almost like a Mary Tyler Moore or "That Girl!"
I worked with some great people on the shoot! Ben Chmura made the dress
especially for the cover shoot and Mark "Hero" de los Reyes did the make-up...
they are my dream team! And of course i had to throw in a little bit of
flair with the glittered orange!
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