World-class photographers share their personal work

Lovebryan doc photo blog — Whether they’re shooting global stars or groups of friends playing in the forest, Lovebryan is where photographer Bryan Derballa showcases his highly talented homies, including Sandy Kim, Allen Ying and Mike Belleme.

If you thought photography was an individual pursuit, think again. Photography collectives, from Magnum to VII to The Deadbeat Club, have always played an important role in pushing the medium forward. In this regular series, Collective Vision, we find the photographers who are stoking a resurgence of the collective and rewriting the rules of the game.

Brooklyn-based Bryan Derballa started Lovebryan in 2006 after finishing college as a way to celebrate everything his creative group of friends were doing and keep his East Coast and West Coast homies connected. “We haven’t collectively been involved in any real projects,” Bryan explains. “But Lovebryan has been a great space for us to learn, share, and experiment with our own photography. A few of us have gone onto successful careers that started with Lovebryan.”

Over the last eight years, around 20 contributors have come and gone, but six or seven are still active. All of the photographers Bryan choses to feature are immensely talented, but he explains, “I’ve never taken on someone I didn’t know, regardless of how good their work is. There are tons of great photographers. I’m more interested in creating a community than an elite photographic force.”

Lovebryan binds together a group of explorers and adventurers who fortunately also take photographs. Whether they’re shooting huge personalities for magazines like The Fader, Juxtapoz and Huck or a group of friends hurling themselves from waterfalls deep in the forest, their images all posses a captivating intimacy and convey a youthful sense of wonder.

What made you decide to join forces?
It’s a very loose collective of friends, who all happen to be photographers. Lovebryan started as a blog in 2006, before Facebook became a behemoth, before people started and abandoned their Blogspots, before everyone had a Tumblr feed, before Instagram. I’d finished college a couple years before but was still pretty wayward. The only real thing I had at that point in my life was my friends. I was so into everything they were doing. I just wanted to have a place for these friends to share bits and pieces of their lives. I also wanted to connect my friends on the East Coast with my friends on the West. The blog was really only meant for them but it grew a bit bigger than that.

What have you learned from other photographers in the collective? Has working together changed the work you produce?
Lovebryan, more than anything else, has been an education. Mike Belleme and I started shooting at roughly the same time. Seeing him post his work all the time was a constant source of inspiration. I’d see a new post and immediately call him to see how he made those pictures. And he’d do the same with me. Early on, it was like school. We learned together and shared everything — technique, experience, visions, contacts, business advice, etc. — along the way. I think it’s been like that for a number of us. Seeing the work of these other photographers we know and are personally invested in has been a constant source of inspiration. Speaking only for myself — though I’m sure some others would feel the same — there’s no way I’d be the photographer I am without Lovebryan.

What does working together allow you to do that you couldn’t do by yourselves?
I think sharing our work on Lovebryan has helped everyone gain more exposure. If a viewer visits the site for Sandy Kim, they may stick around for Allen Ying and vice versa. Pooling our content has attracted a lot more eyeballs.

What’s the future for Lovebryan?
The future is pretty wide open. Essentially we’ve achieved something we didn’t even know we wanted when we started. We became professional photographers — Sandy Kim, Mike Belleme, Andrew White, Allen Ying, and me. Danilo Parra is a successful filmmaker and fantastic photographer. But the downside of the success is that we have less time to post to the Lovebryan. The site is unfortunately enduring it’s longest period of inactivity. I’m hoping to change that and do a redesign as soon as I can find the time. I’m hoping the people who want to will still contribute.

In the age of Instagram, it’s hard to take the time to post a long-form blog post. But I think it’s still important. Less and less people are looking at blogs and spending more time with their various feeds and social media. But maybe Lovebryan will go back to being what it started out as — just for the homies. I’m fine with that.

Check out Lovebryan.


Latest on Huck

Smiling person in black wetsuit riding surfboard on calm ocean with rocky hills in background.
Sport

Maryam El Gardoum is breaking new shores for Morocco’s indigenous surfers

The Amazigh Atlantic — Through her groundbreaking career and popular surf school, the five-time Moroccan champion is helping women find their places in the waves.

Written by: Sam Haddad

Dimly lit underground carpark, long winding corridor with concrete walls, floor, and pipes above.
Activism

Youth violence’s rise is deeply concerning, but mass hysteria doesn’t help

Safe — On Knife Crime Awareness Week, writer, podcaster and youth worker Ciaran Thapar reflects on the presence of violent content online, growing awareness about the need for action, and the two decades since Saul Dibb’s Bullet Boy.

Written by: Ciaran Thapar

Colourful embroidered jackets worn by two people, with skateboarder visible in background. Bright colours and graphic designs on the clothing.
Sport

Volcom teams up with Bob Mollema for the latest in its Featured Artist Series

True to This — The boardsports lifestyle brand will host an art show in Biarritz to celebrate the Dutch illustrators’ second capsule collection.

Written by: Huck

Black and white image showing a group of shirtless men socialising, some laughing.
Culture

A visual trip through 100 years of New York’s LGBTQ+ spaces

Queer Happened Here — A new book from historian and writer Marc Zinaman maps scores of Manhattan’s queer venues and informal meeting places, documenting the city’s long LGBTQ+ history in the process.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Four persons - three women and one man - posing outdoors. The women are wearing elaborate clothing and jewellery.
Culture

Nostalgic photos of everyday life in ’70s San Francisco

A Fearless Eye — Having moved to the Bay Area in 1969, Barbara Ramos spent days wandering its streets, photographing its landscape and characters. In the process she captured a city in flux, as its burgeoning countercultural youth movement crossed with longtime residents.

Written by: Miss Rosen

A person wearing a black cap and holding a sign that says "What made me"
Music

Tony Njoku: ‘I wanted to see Black artists living my dream’

What Made Me — In this series, we ask artists and rebels about the forces and experiences that shaped who they are. Today, it’s avant-garde electronic and classical music hybridist Tony Njoku.

Written by: Tony Njoku

Huck is supported by our readers, subscribers and Club Huck members. It is also made possible by sponsorship from:

Signup to our newsletter

Sign up to our newsletter to informed with the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture, featuring personal takes on the state of media and pop culture from Emma Garland, former Digital Editor of Huck, exclusive interviews, recommendations and more.

Please wait...

Accessibility Settings

Text

Applies the Open Dyslexic font, designed to improve readability for individuals with dyslexia.

Applies a more readable font throughout the website, improving readability.

Underlines links throughout the website, making them easier to distinguish.

Adjusts the font size for improved readability.

Visuals

Reduces animations and disables autoplaying videos across the website, reducing distractions and improving focus.

Reduces the colour saturation throughout the website to create a more soothing visual experience.

Increases the contrast of elements on the website, making text and interface elements easier to distinguish.