Ryan Pyle is an adventure photographer and television producer and host. He has created, filmed and hosted four seasons of ''Extreme Treks'', three seasons of the ''Tough Rides'', as well as other international adventure programs. His still photography has appeared in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

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'', ''Time'',

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, and other international publications, as well as several books including ''Chinese Turkestan'' and ''Sacred Mountains of China''. Pyle set the ''

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' for the longest motorcycle ride, has been awarded five

Asian Television Awards The Asian Television Awards (launched in 1996), is an appreciation to recognize and reward programming and production excellence in the Asian television industry. Held every December, the Awards comprises 56 categories across news, documentarie ...

, and a Gold Medallion from the

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...

, among other recognitions.

Early life

Pyle was born and raised in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. He played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

beginning at the age of six, continuing the sport through attendance at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

. While in college, he studied modern Chinese history and politics, while playing CIS basketball. When it was clear he would not turn pro, he decided to change professions. Pyle moved to Shanghai, and in 2004 started a career in photography. His work appeared in ''The New York Times'', ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine, ''The Wall Street Journal''. In 2009, ''

Photo District News ''Photo District News'' (or ''PDN'') was an American monthly trade publication for professional photographers. ''PDN'' was first published in 1980. The publication took its name from New York City's photo district, an area of photo businesses tha ...

'' named Pyle one of the top 30 emerging photographers in the world.

Television career

Pyle began working in television the following year with the creation of his first show, ''Tough Ride: China'', which was broadcast on ''

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...

''. The program followed Pyle and his brother, Colin, on a motorcycle trip around the Middle Kingdom, China, an expedition that covered 16,240 kilometers, and earned the brothers a place in the ''Guinness World Records'' for longest continuous journey by motorcycle within a single country. Pyle wrote a book documenting the 65-day trip called, ''The Middle Kingdom Ride: Two Brothers, Two Motorcycles, One Epic Journey Around China''. In 2011, the Pyle brothers transversed

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

for the program called ''Tough Rides: India'', then Brazil for ''Tough Rides: Brazil'', which aired in 2016. In the years between ''Tough Rides'' episodes, Pyle created and released another series called ‘’Extreme Treks’’ in 2014, 2017, and then again in 2018. The shows were filmed in

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, Tibet, Russia,

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

and

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. The fourth season of ‘’Extreme Treks’’ was in production in

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

in February 2020 and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

that March, but was shut down due to the global

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic. Pyle isolated in

Istanbul, Turkey Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

piecing together the footage for the season of the show that airs on

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

. In June 2020, Pyle's 10-part series ‘’Expedition Asia’’, featuring his visits to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, China,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, Hong Kong,

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and India, began airing on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

. By October 2020, Pyle was in production with two new series: ''Meet the Makers'', a global travel show introducing people who make objects by hand, and ''The Nomad'', based on his ''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...

'' column of the same name.

Awards and recognition

* 2020 – Best Director Non-Fiction – Winner * 2020 – Best Lifestyle Presenter – Winner * 2020 – Best Non-Scripted Entertainment: ''Extreme Treks'' Season 3 – Winner * 2014 – Explorer of the Year –

Geographical Society of Philadelphia The Geographical Society of Philadelphia was founded by Angelo Heilprin in 1891 "to promote the discovery and appreciation of the many wonders of our world." Through grants, it has supported major explorations. It also sponsors educational program ...

* 2013 – Gold Medallion – Governor General of Canada * 2012 – Guinness World Record – Adventure Motorcycle Riding * 2010 – ''Photo District News'' Photo Annual – Winner * 2009 – ''Photo District News'' 30 – Emerging Photographer Award

Television series

* 2021 – ''Tough Rides: Saudi Arabia'' – In Pre-Production * 2021 – ''Meet The Makers'' Season 1 – In Production * 2020 – ''The Nomad'' Season 1 – In Production * 2021 – ''Extreme Treks'' Season 4 – In Production * 2020 – ''Expedition Asia'' Season 1 – Discovery Channel , , Amazon Prime * 2018 – ''Extreme Treks'' Season 3 – BBC Earth , , Amazon Prime * 2017 – ''Extreme Treks'' Season 2 – BBC Earth , , Amazon Prime * 2016 – ''Tough Rides: Brazil'' – Travel Channel , , Amazon Prime * 2014 – ''Extreme Treks'' Season 1 – Discovery Channel , , Amazon Prime * 2014 – ''China's Great Gateway'' – Discovery Channel * 2014 – ''Tough Rides: India'' – Travel Channel , , Amazon Prime * 2013 – ''Tough Rides: China'' – Travel Channel , , Amazon Prime

Published work

* 2017 – ''Sacred Mountains'' – Photography * 2016 – ''Tough Rides: Brazil'' – Author, photography * 2015 – ''Sacred Mountains of China'' – Author * 2014 – ''Chinese Turkestan'' – Photography * 2014 – ''The India Ride'' – Author * 2013 – ''The Middle Kingdom Ride'' – Author

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pyle, Ryan 1978 births Canadian photographers Living people People from Oakville, Ontario University of Toronto alumni