Q&A: Samuel Ryde, photographer of hand dryers

*Hackney Picturehouse, The Bricklayers Arms, St. John Bread & Wine*

The best art invites us to use our imagination, and Samuel Ryde’s beautifully-photographed book of hand dryers does just that. The subject matter might seem unremarkable, yet this makes the stories behind the images even more intriguing. Umbrella creative director Matt Reynolds caught up with Samuel to discuss his unlikely obsession.

Hi Samuel. When did you first start thinking about hand dryers differently?

I’m not a photographer by profession. I did photography A-level, but I didn’t permit myself to pursue it – I just thought it was something that other people did.
The first time I noticed hand dryers, I was in a curry restaurant, and I noticed this useless one on the wall. I thought, “Who put it there? Who designed it? Maybe I could collect images of them and see what they look like as a series.”
After that, I was in Edinburgh and saw another battered hand dryer with ‘NOT WORKING’ written on it. This interested me: someone cared enough to write on it, but not enough to fix it.
Later, my dad was looking through my photos and said, “What’s this?” I said, “I’m thinking of taking pictures of hand dryers, and he said, “Oh, for God’s sake!”. So I thought, “OK, this must be good.” Then I started the Instagram account. He loves it now!

Instagram seems like the perfect medium for you…

I portray things on Instagram the way I’ve always looked at stuff, but you can imagine what your friends are saying: “You’ve got an Instagram called ‘hand dryers’?” Everyone thinks I’m bonkers!
It slowly grew and became really strong. Vice Italy put it on its feed, that was a watershed. I hid behind the account for ages, it was anonymous, but then I was featured in the New York Times and thought, “Hang on…”

*Caravan Bankside, The Spread Eagle, Two Bits Retro Arcade*

Is that what led to the book deal?

Yeah, I had around 2,500 images in a folder, so I sorted through them. A contact suggested I take the idea to the London Book Fair, so I did. I got a deal that day with Unicorn.
To be honest, even if nothing had happened, I’d still be doing it. It’s that obsessive thing! Do you know what the word ‘amateur’ means, literally? It means, ‘to love’. To go professional is you losing the love – in a weird way.

You’ve become a figurehead for the hand-dryer ‘community’...

It’s funny you say that, because there’s a Facebook group called the Hand Dryer Appreciation Society and they didn’t seem to like me much. Someone on there posted a picture of my book, and stuck his middle finger up at it!
Maybe it’s because it’s got James Dyson on the front. He’s divisive. The publisher suggested he write the foreword, and I thought, “Well, who else is there?” Everyone associates him with hand dryers!
Anyway, I wrote a comment underneath the post saying, “Thanks for the love, guys.” What else can you do?

People have been sharing their own experiences in Amazon reviews for the book and on your Instagram page. That must be nice?

Ha-ha, yes, that’s very rewarding. A venue DM’d me the other day about their hand dryers – they’re based on Darth Vader!

*Mercat de Santa Caterina, Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club, The Keep*

Did you get any weird looks taking pictures in toilets?

I haven’t been caught yet. Initially, it was all phone pics, but when people asked if I’d sell images, I got a proper camera and a tripod – which is a road I never thought I’d go down: going into a bathroom with full camera kit. But that’s where I am.
In the UK it’s difficult because bathrooms tend to be communal, but in the US you usually go into a cubicle which you lock. Earlier in 2020, I went to New York and reshot some images I knew I wanted, and to see what else I could get. All my bestselling photos are from that trip.

Do you go to specific bars mainly to shoot?

Generally, it’s organic. I did a bar crawl with a mate on that trip to New York, and we hit about 40 bars in four days. He left a day early, so the last day it was just me. But people in the US are friendly – they’ll chat to you in bars. It’s great.

*The George Tavern, Trailer Park Lounge, Max Fish*

Was there anywhere swanky that had dreadful toilets?

With hotels, the fancier the establishment, the less likely they are to have a hand dryer. It’ll be hand towels, which is disappointing.
For me, dive bars are the best, but we don’t have many in the UK. Those kinds of beaten-up bathrooms that you tend to get in America, New York especially, that are wrecked and covered in graffiti. It’s like being a caveman, that need to leave your mark on walls. It’s almost primal.
The opposite end of that spectrum were the gents’ toilets in London’s old British Library. There was all this philosophical graffiti done by professors who’d pose existential questions on the walls, and someone else would try to answer them! Before they knocked it down, the artist Jeremy Deller wrote them all down. The ultimate toilet book!

A place for quiet reflection?

Yeah, if you think about what a trip to the bathroom represents, it’s this tiny moment of isolation – you could be in a bar having a good time or a bad time, but you always get to escape to this place.
You use the hand dryer, you give life to this machine, but you never think about it again. It’s reflective. I mean, sometimes it’s literally reflective if the dryer is silver...

So what’s next?