St. Cloud Area School District’s new Visual Communication Specialist Ryan Unger loves to tinker. He’s been doing it since he received his first toy erector set as a child. Unger loved to tear apart anything, rebuild it and figure out how things worked. It eventually led him to many of his current hobbies and a career in photography and videography.
“I started becoming mechanically-minded when I was really young,” says Unger. “K’NEX kits, Legos and all that kind of stuff -that got me kind of started. Then when I was in college, I started working on Schwinn bicycles and anything that was old and vintage.”
Unger’s mechanical mind began to see things artistically as well. He would videotape and edit footage of his high school friends skateboarding. In fact, it became his favorite part of skateboarding. He would cut and splice the footage he’d captured to create art.
It was the complexity of building art (and getting paid for it) that led him to study graphic design at St. Cloud State University.
However, to advance his career in graphic design, he needed to develop his portfolio. The best way to document and track his portfolio was to take photographs. He purchased his first “nice” camera, and that’s when everything changed.
“I ended up loving it,” says Unger. “I ended up shooting [photographs] for local events and bands.”
For the past eight years, Unger has honed his photography and videography craft. He’s enjoyed his projects in surrounding areas, but a favorite project took him far from home.
Unger kept a high school promise to himself to go on a road trip. Shortly after he married, he decided it was the perfect time. He journeyed to the West Coast on a two-week road trip photographing and filming his experiences.
“I packed up all my things and just headed out,” remembers Unger. “I’d wake up and start photographing in the early morning- the golden hour – and then drive 10 hours to the next spot.”
The trip made him realize he wanted to switch careers to focus on videography and photography.
In his new role at District 742, Unger is enthusiastic about photo and video work.
“It’s awesome and fun to work with the kids,” says Unger. “I get to go around to all the different buildings and see what really does make this district so great.”
Unger feels he is exactly where he belongs.
“I’m literally living my dream.”
Fun Facts about Unger:
1. Unger has an antique toaster collection (He loves how bread toasts on a conveyor belt and plops onto your plate).
2. He’s restored a 1968 Barracuda, a 1959 motorboat and a 1975 Honda CB360 (and countless other mopeds, bikes etc.).
3. He loves it when he walks into a school in his leather jacket and students think he is a rock star.
4. Unger is guitarist in the band, Oh So Easy.
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