GEORGE BYRNE

 

Following moving to Los Angeles, Australian photographer and musician George Byrne has proven to release his passion in capturing the inherent beauty within raw urban landscapes.  Exhibiting his works both within Gallery Exhibitions and within his Instagram gallery (@george_byrne) has seen the world enthralled by his subject matter, often featuring banal and simple moments in life yet conveying them in a whimsical and and transformative fashion. We spoke exclusively with Byrne:

 

 

What made you decide to become an artist?

 

Well I think you’re born an artistic person, it flows through you whether you like it or not, the decision you have to make is whether you want to dedicate your life to it and try and carve out a living. Which is daunting for obvious reasons. For me it was never a conscious decision or anything, maybe more a matter of necessity as I knew I was pretty good at photography and music and the alternative would be digging holes and serving drinks for the rest of my life. The thing I found is the older I got, the more focused I became on getting something serious done in the arts, I just wanted to put my head down and work, and that’s when the results started to happen. It’s only very recently that I could sustain myself of my work alone so the whole thing is still quite surreal.

 

 

What are you currently inspired by?

 

Everything, my brain is exploding. I have a few different bodies of work that I’m thinking about.

 

 

What made you decide to relocate to Los Angeles?

 

Looking back on it (2010) I was just at a point in my life that I knew I wasn’t going to grow unless I left my home country, Australia. It wasn’t really LA that was screaming my name, just anywhere I could be creative and try and get better at the stuff I was doing. I was also just craving a huge adventure, and I certainly got one coming here. The decision to stay in LA once I got here was just based on a deep sense of it being the right place at the right time. I had some work leads here and some good opportunities and I just found the place completely fascinating, I still do.

 

 

Where is your all time favourite destination and why?

 

That’s a tough question, I’ve lots of favorites but the most seismic, life-altering trip I’ve had was when I went to India - just out of High School. This was just before the internet / smartphones had us all by the throat, so back then when you went places like that you really went! I was so young and naïve, I knew no-one and nothing, I recall being so high on life it was almost too much to bare, greatest feeling ever.

 

 

Where to next?

 

Still working it all out but I have a feeling a major American road trip is on the cards with an exhibition at the end of it. I’ll keep you posted.