Camera Roll with Hannah La Follette Ryan
Camera Roll is an interview series where we glimpse into the current moment via the mundane and the ordinary — the life documented and forgotten, lived through our phones and beyond.
Photographer Hannah La Follette Ryan spends almost her whole working day on the subway. Not (just) because she enjoys the ride, but because her Instagram project @subwayhands essentially makes the entirety of NYC’s underground transit system her office. Hannah embraced the iPhone camera as a natural extension of her sharp eye years ago — and its portability and convenience ease what she likes to think of as the “waiting game for the perfect moment.” When she isn’t using her phone to capture images both personal and professional, she can usually be found in her Crown Heights apartment, which doubles as a creative studio space. In our conversation, we speak to Hannah about untethering from social media to pursue more analog creative endeavors, photography as an external memory drive, and why a recent fashion find helps her feel close to her late grandmother.
What kind of phone do you have and how many images are on it?
I have an iPhone 14. My Camera Roll has 139,317 photos which is crazy! I take photos constantly and instinctively.
Where are you right now?
I’m in my studio in my apartment in Crown Heights. I turned a walk-in closet off my bedroom into a studio space. It’s just big enough for a photo printer, a postcard rack, and piles of books.
what’s your morning routine like?
I wake up in the late morning and bravely try to resist Instagram or Twitter before I’ve sat up in bed. I’m not a morning person so I have to stick to my routine religiously otherwise the day can go off the rails. I turn on the BBC which serves as informative white noise while I wash my face and turn the kettle on. Breakfast is peppermint tea, toast, and a kiwi. I’ve learned kiwis are great for gut health and more appetizing than lemon water.
How long do you typically spend on your phone in a day?
Social media is my job so I try to be realistic and permissive about my screen time. I bought a pair of blue-light blocking glasses which make me feel cool and responsible. I try to use those before bed which helps with eye strain and insomnia.
how did you first get into photography and what’s your advice for aspiring photographers?
I was a shy kid at art camp and had a crush on the photo counselor. He taught me how to develop film in a darkroom. My advice would be to take photos consistently, even if you think they’re blah. You’re practicing for the perfect moments that come around when you least expect them. Photography is a waiting game. Photo zines are an easy low-stakes place to start. Don’t worry too much about the “artist” or “photographer” label. This Duane Michals quote is my north star: “Don’t try to be an artist. Find within you that which needs to be expressed. You might find it is art.”
How do you use your phone or other tools to mark, store, and remember moments?
Photography instantly clicked for me as a young person because of how it makes memories tangible. I’ve always been a visual learner with an unreliable memory. Photography became a creative outlet and a memory aid rolled into one. I still use photography as my external memory drive. I also rely heavily on my journals, notebooks and list-making. It has to be paper and pen, my phone is a distraction slot machine.
can you tell us a little bit about your relationship to your phone camera as a professional photographer?
My phone camera is my professional camera. I’ve used it to shoot fashion campaigns and to freelance for the New York Times. In recent years I’ve doubled down on using my iPhone as a professional artist. I am teaching a class at the International Center of Photography right now on finding the art in your smartphone. The convenience, size and access of my iPhone are unmatched. When you walk through a photo gallery the wall text doesn’t mention the camera model or make the photographer used. Once you capture the image, the technical specs are an afterthought. Gear is just a means to an end.
when did you get your first phone and what do you remember about it?
I got my first phone in high school. It was a lime green Sidekick with a swivel keyboard (Lindsay Lohan had one). I convinced my parents to use an upgrade to get it for me, but they wouldn’t pay for a texting plan. So I would use it to write notes to myself and fantasize about a future where I could text all day every day. Now I’m living that dream.
what’s been inspiring you?
Lately I’ve been inspired and reinvigorated by making things offline. Social media is so habit-forming and for years I would automatically share anything I made on Instagram. When I caught myself confusing the online reception of a photo with its worth I knew I needed to pump the breaks. I’ve started painting again which I haven’t done since high school. It’s been wonderful to do it just for myself.
What apps on your phone do you use most?
What’s in your podcast queue? Any creators or channels you’ve subscribed to?
Podcasts: Celebrity Memoir Book Club, Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel, Articles of Interest with Avery Trufelman. In terms of newsletters, it’s The Unpublishable by Jessica DeFino for beauty takes and After School by Casey Lewis for fascinating zoomer trend reporting.
What are you reading?
One of my resolutions this year was to renew my relationship with reading. I love books but I can feel my attention span getting noticeably shorter every year. Novellas have been the answer to that problem. I just finished Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. Right now I’m reading Blue Eyes, Black Hair by Marguerite Duras.
favorite new possession over the last year?
My grandmother passed away in 2019. Over Christmas, I found one of her old coats forgotten in a closet. It’s a beautiful reversible overcoat, leather on one side and suede on the other. There’s a big stain on the pocket. She spilled on all of the clothes she wore regularly which I find very endearing. When I wear it I feel closer to her.
last thing you googled on your phone?
I have a radio show on Kpiss.fm, and I needed to know how to pronounce the band Cocteau Twins on air. I googled a pronunciation video on Youtube: “Coq-TOE twins”
What are you watching right now?
I’m rewatching Monk. It’s about a detective genius with OCD sleuthing in San Francisco. It’s so funny, morbid and compassionate. I usually gravitate towards dystopian TV (I’m loving The Last of Us), but Monk has just the right the combination of light and dark. For all of Tony Shalhoub and Bitty Schram’s lewks, follow my fan account and passion project: @EveryOutfitonMonk.
Can you describe your lock screen and what made you pick it?
A picture of my sister when she was a baby. She looks like a perfect chickpea in technicolor. It reminds me to be compassionate towards myself and others cause we can all be big babies.
images provided by hannah la follette ryan, edited by claire brodka