The Unreal Real, Liza Ryan's fifth publication, surveys the last two decades of her work. Thirteen chapters, loosely organized by chronology and series, present a collection of Ryan's nuanced observations. Trained as a photographer and a student of literature, Ryan uses images as language as she moves fluidly between photography and video, collage and mixed media, to capture her diverse perceptions. The Unreal Real describes the otherworldly that exists in the everyday and offers a common thread of meaning throughout Ryan's layered oeuvre. Whether documenting her experience in Antarctica or examining the repercussions of loss, Ryan's work captures a sense of evanescence that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Liza Ryan was born in Virginia in 1965 and today lives and works in Los Angeles. She studied literature and photography at Dartmouth College and California State University Fullerton. Ryan has exhibited in numerous individual and group exhibitions including those at the Rijksmuseum, the Getty Center and the Biennale of Sydney. Significant public and private collections hold her work including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. Manfred Heiting is a designer and editor of photo publications and a collector of photobooks focusing on the period between 1886 and 1980. He has designed and edited extensive surveys of German, Soviet and Japanese photobooks. Heiting is currently working on surveys of Czech and Dutch photobooks.