Brooke T Ryan

As she ages, Brooke is increasingly aware of how quickly life passes, that it is a collection of fleeting moments, and the importance of being present. She covets the effects of the changing seasons: Leaves budding, unfurling, changing color, and 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 stark beauty of tree branches reflecting on water after the ice melts, and the amorphous forms of clouds. We miss these miraculous, ephemeral moments when we are focused only on the past and future.

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, specifically visible light. All cameras contain a filter that blocks other light, ultraviolet, and infrared, so that photographs reflect how we see the world. Brooke had that filter removed, her photographs now revealing a realm that extends beyond our vision, 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 slow down and consider what is beyond what we see and perceive.

As a teenager, Brooke took every photography course offered. She was a National Scholastic Art Awards Portfolio Nominee and was a recipient of the Regional Scholastic Gold Key Award.

She started college as an art major to prepare for a career as a fine art photographer, but then switched paths and earned a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology and a M.S. in Health Services Administration instead, working in hospitals in Georgia, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts before returning to creating art.

Botanical - A. Smith Gallery - Johnson City, TX, 2025;
Botanical - PhotoPlace Gallery - Middlebury, VT, 2025;
Life in Motion - Cape Cod Art Center, 2025; Sanctuary - A. Smith Gallery - Johnson City, TX, 2024; Square III - Decode Gallery - Tucson, AZ, 2024; Monochrome - PhotoPlace Gallery - Middlebury, VT, 2024; AREA SHARE - Reisman Hall Art Gallery - Cazenovia, NY, 2022; Quiet Landscape - PhotoPlace Gallery - Middlebury, VT, 2021; Hometown - Auburn Art Gallery - Los Angeles, CA, 2021; Primary Colors - New York Center for Photographic Art - New York, NY, 2021; Winter Festival Exhibition, Cazenovia, New York - March 2020; Juried Members Exhibition - Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, Cazenovia, NY, October, 2019; In Motion - Online Exhibition - Cape Cod Art Center, February 2019; Caz Arts Alliance Group Show, Cazenovia College Art Gallery, May 2019; In Motion - Online Exhibition - Cape Cod Art Center, February 2019; Solo Exhibition - Common grounds, Cazenovia, NY, February 2018; fPOE Group Show - Janice Mason Art Museum, Cadiz, KY, October 2016; fPOE Group Show - Hotel 1857, Paducah, KY, January 2016; All Cape Cod - Cape Cod Art Association, Barnstable, MA, May - June 2014; Inspirations - Cape Cod Art Association, Barnstable, MA, Febru...