Our #MyHustle series highlights members our staff and some of the badass stuff they do outside of Angel City. This week? Eran Ryan, tour guide extraordinaire, who can just as often be found in the brewery or backstage at a festival.
Dan Shapiro: So multiple people have told me that you have a cool hustle – so what is it?
Eran Ryan: I’m a multimedia journalist. I cover a wide array of events and subjects ranging from music to arts and culture. I prefer photography as my medium, but I’ve been known to scribe an article or two.
DS: What got you into that?
ER: Back in 2015, I was closing in on my seventh year working for a company I thought I loved, but I knew didn’t love me back. At the conclusion of my first date with a writer based in Orange County late that summer, he asked if I was free that weekend to take photos that would be published in his review for It’s Not Dead Fest, the big punk rock music festival out in San Bernardino. I obliged, truthfully more excited at the prospect of a second date. There was some sort of convenient mixup though with my credentials though, and I ended up with stage access to shoot bands like NOFX and Bad Religion while they played. It was insane. I continued covering events for free as a means of building up a portfolio until I was ready to begin applying for freelance jobs. Within six months, I quit that corporate job and never looked back.
DS: And you’re still with that boyfriend?
ER: Yes! We’re actually approaching our 3-year anniversary.
DS: So a match made in heaven!
ER: Oh yes, he’s stuck with me.
DS: So obviously multimedia journalism is so different from being in a studio where you can control all of the elements. What do you find are the challenges of multimedia journalism?
ER: That nothing is guaranteed. Because I tend to capture a lot of live events, there’s movement, lighting and visual obstructions that I’m constantly trying to compensate for. When it comes to the written side of things, I love that I’m given the opportunity to tell other people’s stories or to try to verbally paint a picture for someone who wasn’t able to be in the audience at a performance or in the room during an interview. It’s all very exciting and therefore kind of stressful too.
DS: And a little birdie tells me you do MMA photography as well?
ER: Yeah! It’s still very new to me, but I’m quickly finding my footing. I began with a Bellator fight down in Orange County. From there, I attended my first UFC fight featuring BJ Penn and Yair Rodriguez, the one down in Anaheim last year with Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones, and I was just at the STAPLES’ Center in Downtown LA last weekend capturing the California rivalry as it played out between TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt.
DS: What publications can we find you in?
ER: My bylines have been in PureVolume, Myspace, Phoenix New Times and OC Weekly to name a few.
DS: What would be your dream shot to get?
ER: My favorite part of what I do is trying to capture those fleeting moments. I’ve found myself immersed in a world that I never thought I’d be a part of and I love it. To say that I have a dream shot wouldn’t be completely truthful, as there’s still so much to this that I haven’t explored yet. Whatever it turns out to be, hopefully it ends up in a museum or on display in some historic venue.
DS: Are you a sports fan in general?
ER: I don’t mind them in the least. I grew up playing sports and there are multiple professional athletes in my family. Am I the most well-versed when it comes to player stats? Not at all. It all makes for an enjoyable pastime, though.
DS: And lastly, where can we find your portfolio?
ER: Most of my work is published online. I do update my website and Instagram page whenever I take on a new project, too!
If your googling fingers are tired, you can check out more of Eran’s work at her website, EranRyan.com, or under her Instagram handle, ebr730.
Meet more of our talented staff in the My Hustle archives!
