Moonmilk: Going underground with Ryan McGinley

'Not that many people know about my work over here,' says Ryan McGinley at the opening of his new show, Moonmilk, in London. 'I think, as an artist, you get so consumed in your own work that you forget what people think about you – especially when it’s a country that’s so far away' Photograph: Alison Jacques gallery

Each of the 24 photographs in Moonmilk show a departure from McGinley's earlier style, and a willingness to engage with forms and material of a deeper nature, such as in this photograph, entitled Blood Falls Photograph: Alison Jacques gallery

McGinley is still dismissed as a coked-up snapper from the Lower East Side. It's sad how, despite him amassing a huge amount of work, his reputation can override his quality Photograph: Alison Jacques gallery

'When I was younger I was so wide-eyed, I wanted to photograph everything,' says McGinley. 'There's this hip-hop expression called "slowing your roll" – I'm doing that' Photograph: Alison Jacques gallery

However much McGinley has grown as an artist, it is difficult to shake off people’s attitudes towards the kind of work that made him famous. The brilliance of his work is often overlooked. This image is called Jonas and Marcel Blue Altar Photograph: Alison Jacques gallery

'The preparation that went into [the shoot] was immense. I had to slow everything down – the exposures, the sitting times for the models, the lighting, everything ... it was like an opera.' This photograph is entitled Jonas Ritual Photograph: Alison Jacques gallery

McGinley is one of the most pioneering young photographers we've had for decades and has created a rich, milky aesthetic that is unmistakably his own, such as in this image, entitled Grace Tracy Goliath Photograph: Alison Jacques gallery

This image is entitled Inside Heart Photograph: Alison Jacques gallery

Is he hoping that this new body of work will make British audiences take him more seriously? 'Well, I certainly want to pleasantly confuse people with it,' he says Photograph: Alison Jacques gallery

It’s been six years since The Kids are Alright, McGinley's exhibition at the Whitney Museum in New York, so it’s about time that British audiences caught up Photograph: Alison Jacques gallery