Ryan Aw

Hi BlueSky, I’m Ryan! I’m an environmentalist, adventurer, photographer, and full-time cat parent that’s hopelessly in love with Earth While I spend most of my time advocating for the polar regions, there isn’t a single ecosystem on this planet that escapes my interest 🧵 👇

Woahhh just hit 100 subs on the YouTube!! Absolutely crazy to me haha (You can make it 101 here: youtube.com/@ryanaw.phot...)

Bit of a life update: I live here now! Hello, Salt Lake City! Yet another photographer with a 4Runner in the outdoor/adventure space has moved here haha 🤣

If you’ve ever wondered how my K2 star trail image was made…I spill the secrets in my latest newsletter update! rawtalk.ryanaw.photos/p/the-making...

Masherbrum - 7821m/25,659ft Since 1856, only 4 expeditions of 15 climbers have summited. Its last ascent was over 40 yrs ago As we hiked to K2 basecamp, we saw countless seracs and avalanches collapse #pakistan #photography #landscape #nature #mountains #karakoram #hiking

Sometimes, I do stuff other than run to remote corners of Earth! What a treat to get to see Gorillaz for a third time #musicfestival #shakyknees2026 #gorillaz #festival

I spent the summer hiking over 200km across Northern Pakistan for the sole purpose of photographing one mountain - K2 I made a video of the whole thing and it’s live on YouTube rn!!! It would make my year if you went and watched it 🫶 #pakistan #travel #photography #k2 youtu.be/4r9sq6l-Fcs

You ever seen 3+ glaciers in one image? You have now!! Left: Vigne glacier Middle: Baltoro glacier Right: Godwin-Austen glacier Oh yea, that’s K2 and Broad Peak over there on the right (two of the tallest mountains on Earth) #pakistan #concordia #photography #glacier #karakoram #mountains

New video out this Friday!! I convinced my friend Evan to join me on a 30 day expedition where we climbed, hiked, and drove over 2500km across Pakistan in search of the tallest mountains on Earth #pakistan #k2 #mountaineering #travel #photography #karakoram youtube.com/@ryanaw.photos

What’s your most unexpectedly useful photography tool? For me it’s a video game controller I’ve got it set up so I can rate and tag images in PhotoMechanic at light speed while being lazy on the couch 🤣 #photography #cat #steam #valve

Crazy to think that over 1000 people have watched a video of me rambling while filming cats in Mongolia! Thanks for watching, and if you haven’t, you should! youtu.be/m5qyjzixE0k #youtube #mongolia #pallascat #snowleopard #photography #wildlifephotography

I spent my summer driving 2,000km into the Central Karakoram and trekking over 200km to look at a mountain and take two photographs. I’d really appreciate it if you read my latest newsletter update! (Also pls subscribe 🤣) rawtalk.ryanaw.photos/p/in-search-... #pakistan #photography #travel

Chogori // K2 // The Savage Mountain 8611m / 28,251m At this time of the year, the North Star lines up near-perfectly with the tip of Earth’s 2nd tallest mountain With the altitude and remoteness, this was one of the darkest skies I’ve ever experienced #pakistan #astro #photography #k2 #mountain

It’s a crazy thing to see the mountains half my climbing gear was named after Left to right -Trango II (6237m)  -Trango Tower (6239m)  -Great Trango Tower (6286m)  -Trango Pulpit (6050m)  -Trango Castle (5753m) #trango #trangotowers #climbing #photography #pakistan #karakoram #trekking #travel

Pakistan is a lot of things, and undeniably beautiful is one of them #pakistan #photography #cherryblossom #sakura #mountains #landscapephotography #nature

4:30am, 5600m Top of the Gondogoro La pass. Face to face with four of the tallest mountains on Earth. Directly in front, K2. On the far right of the image, Broad Peak. Further right off screen, G1 and G2 One of the toughest, sketchiest, & most exciting trips of my life #pakistan #k2 #photography

In less than 24hrs, our resident star & satellite will look like this Having to settle for cloudy skies, thunderstorms, and the wrong continent this year, but good luck and clear skies to everyone chasing totality! Image is mine from 2024 #eclipse #totality #astrophotography

Finally editing images from the trek and found one of us resting below Broad Peak basecamp while on the Godwin-Austen #glacier, otw to K2 basecamp On the right, #BroadPeak (8051m) The middle, Chogori/ #k2 (8611m) The left, Pastore Peak (6142m) About 2 weeks before the recent Broad Peak #avalanche

Things you get used to pretty quickly after spending a month living on one of Asia’s largest glaciers: jumping over crevasses #mountaineering #trekking #pakistan #baltoro #glacier #crevasses

It's way overdue, but my latest newsletter about my #spring trip to #Japan is finally live! It's my first since moving away from #Substack, which I abandoned due to moral conflicts I'd really appreciate it if you checked out the new publication! (Which I think is much nicer than Substack anyways)

I have officially become the cool uncle, also the worst nightmare of all the parents in my family as I inspire their kids to do insane stuff like meet strangers off the internet to go climb mountains in a foreign country 🤣 #travel #photography #family

If my roadtrip doesn’t come in the form of a 70 year old Land Cruiser and certain death with one wrong turn of a wheel, I don’t want it 🤣 #pakistan #karakoram #offroading #roadtrip

My #K2 #trek experience was full of insanity, but a favourite moment was our rest day where we all sat outside enjoying the weather, reading our various books in front of 6000m+ monsters Books read: 3 Body Problem The Dark Forest Death’s End Neuromancer Project Hail Mary Currently: Annihilation

They said to never meet strangers on the internet, but when Evan said he likes to get high…I found a few solutions at 5600m/18372ft 5th trip so far with people I’ve interacted with only online, and I’m so grateful for the incredible company each time Who/where next??? #pakistan #k2 #mountains

Sleeping on Asia’s second largest glacier in front of the world’s second tallest mountain. Not a bad campsite! #pakistan #k2 #camping

Sitting in a plane at regular cruising altitude and being just barely above eye level of mountain peaks is…something else entirely Nanga Parbat. 8126m/26660ft. God damn she tall. #pakistan #karakoram #nangaparbat #mountaineering #climbing #windowseat

Hi all! Some noticed I’ve not been active on my newsletter I’ve decided to leave #Substack, and move my publication to a platform that aligns with my values I can’t continue to enjoy a fiscal relationship with a platform that actively champions bigots, so find me here: www.rawtalk.ryanaw.photos

Earlier this #spring, my friends and I drove over 4000km across #Japan chasing #Sakura blooms across the country It was very different to my typical “in the middle of nowhere” style of adventure, but nonetheless an incredibly fun time Video of the trip is out on #YouTube now! youtu.be/7MJEa2hrcyo

So my new keyboard is kinda crazy #keyboards #keeb #flux

Please let me pack #cats #cat #packing #travel

I paid for DaVinci Studio so that I could make edits anyone else could have made in Windows Movie Maker At least I’m finally putting all the terabytes of footage I’ve recorded over the years to use 🤣 #davinci #youtube #videoediting #photography youtu.be/ad_gD37ZJJ0

Growing up, I never saw anyone like me. Let alone climbing rocks, crawling under glaciers, & embarking on crazy expeditions Despite my fear of being perceived, I’ve tried to show my face more to prove that the #outdoors is for everyone like me - #Asians, #immigrants, #POC #AANHPIHeritageMonth

Turns out something like 90% of travellers to Japan don’t leave the Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka triangle; & I find that such a shame because the whole country is just staggering Are you one of the 10% that’s left? Where’d you go? #japan #cherryblossm #sakura #roadtrip

Still not over scenes like this from Japan #japan #sakura #spring #cherryblossom

My parents: what are you doing in Japan? Me: working…I swear #japan #photography #hiroshima #kabayaki

Given current events, it felt extremely important to visit the Atomic Bomb Dome while I was in Hiroshima last week Absolutely heartbreaking walking through the memorials and museums Not wanting to have wars should NEVER be a controversial opinion #hiroshima #japan #nowars