2010 Nikon Inspiration Award Winner, 2011 Chapnick grantee from the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund & a grantee of the Pulitzer Center.

Ryan spends a lot of time getting to know his subjects and very little time post-processing.

In addition to his own work, which has been exhibited and awarded by Nikon Salon of Tokyo and funded by the Pulitzer Center, Ryan spends much of his time directing the Documentary Arts Asia center and F/28 photography festival.

Ryan is a lecturer at Chiang Mai University’s photography Dept & teaches regularly for many other organizations. Ryan Libre spoke on grassroots photojournalism and visual literacy at TEDx.

He is the recipient of the 2011 Chapnick grant from the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund.

“In 2008 I started teaching to and advising NGOs based in Thailand about photography.  Later the same year, I started teaching in Kachin State, Burma to local youth in the KIO autonomous capital. Most of the DAA programs have been a direct response to seeing that my students need much more than a lesson to reach their full potential. They needed a library of photobooks and documentary films to continue teaching themselves and develop their styles. They needed to know that their work was going to be seen, thus the gallery, magazine, and agency. They needed continuing support, thus the micro-grants, artist-in-residency, and gear loans.

I primarily do self-assigned projects and the main outlet from my work has been exhibitions. A few of my 30 solo exhibitions include the Nikon Salons in Tokyo and Osaka, the Fuji Film Salon, The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand, and The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.

My first feature length documentary, When Will It Be, is in editing and will be released in August 2013.

My main passion outside of photography and film is natural building. Asia has been my home for over a decade.”