Kathy Ryan’s career journey began in Bound Brook, New Jersey, at St Joseph’s Catholic School. Her third grade teacher, Sister Mary William, had a thing for great works of art. And, as it turns out, so did Ryan.

“I got it. I so got it. Looking at the pictures and just understanding. It was like, ‘Wow, I get it.’”

That understanding of the power of the visual led Ryan to a focus on art in college—on lithography and printmaking. But the solemn life of an artist wasn’t for her. She hated being alone all day. She loved working with people. She wanted to be part of a team.

Kathy Ryan was made for magazines.

After starting her career at Sygma, the renowned French photo agency, Ryan was hired away by The New York Times Magazine in 1985. She had found her team.

In her tenure at the Times, she has collaborated with all the bold-face names: Jake Silverstein and Gail Bichler (the current editor-in-chief and creative director) as well as Adam Moss, Rem Duplessis, Janet Froelich, Peter Howe, Diana Laguardia, Gerald Marzorati, Ken Kendrick, and Jack Rosenthal. And between and among them they’ve won all the awards—and created one of the world’s truly great magazines.

Recently, Ryan’s work at the Times took a new turn. Inspired by her collaborations with the most gifted photographers in the business, Ryan started making a few pictures of her own.

She had always been mesmerized by the way the light hit the Renzo Piano-designed Times headquarters. But on this particularly sunny morning, Ryan pulled out her phone and snapped a picture. Then she took another. And another. She started seeing pictures everywhere. Portraits, abstracts—whatever caught her eye. Encouraged by friends and colleagues, she posted them on Instagram with the hashtag #officeromance.

After a career of looking at pictures, she is now making them. And that led to her glorious book, Office Romance, published by Aperture in 2014.

We talked to Ryan about her passion for the art of work, about the thrill of discovering incredible talent in unexpected places, and about the responsibility that comes with sending photojournalists into harm’s way.

Magazines: The original influencers.

Print Is Dead. (Long Live Print!) is a podcast about magazines and the people who made — and make them. In this series, we talk to the legendary designers, editors, writers, publishers, photographers, illustrators, photo editors, and more, who conceived and produced the publications that have dominated our conversations and covered our desks and coffee tables for decades. And many who still do.

We go deep — beyond the heds & deks, captions, sidebars, pull quotes, and factoids — into the lives and careers of this astonishingly talented group of creators.

If you’re in the magazine business — if you’re in ANY business focused on content creation — this podcast is for you. We hope you’ll join us.

HOSTS

Patrick Mitchell, creator & host, is the principal and creative director at MO.D, an award-winning content design and strategy practice offering bespoke design, consulting, and turnkey solutions for media brands. He is the former creative director at Fast Company (one of the most successful media launches in history), O, The Oprah Magazine, Nylon, and Inc. Winner of two National Magazine Awards as well as SPD’s Magazine of the Year.

Debra Bishop, contributing cohost, is the cofounding art director and visual lead of The New York Times for Kids. She worked with the legendary Fred Woodward at Rolling Stone, designing special issues. She has since lead several redesigns including, More, Whole Living, and Parents. In her 12 years at MSLO, Bishop led teams that launched Martha by Mail, Martha Stewart Baby, Martha Stewart Kids, and Blueprint. Martha Stewart Kids was awarded the prestigous ASME National Magazine Award for Design. Kids and Blueprint were both awarded Magazine of the Year by the Society of Publication Designers (SPD).

Print Is Dead. (Long Live Print!)

Episode 14: Kathy Ryan (Author & Photo Director: The NY Times Magazine)

Magazines: The original influencers.

SPONSORS

THE SOCIETY OF PUBLICATION DESIGNERS INC.