Gallery Reserve
For Viewing Only
About Don Byram
Represented Artist
Don was raised in Arkansas and after spending most of his adult and professional years away, moved back in state in 2016. As he says, “probably for the duration”.
His art is centered around photography. It started in college with an old film Pentax and a passion for composition. His midlife was spent earning a living and helping raise a family. In 2005, he picked up his first digital camera and got back to the art side. As time progressed, he has added antique and vintage frames to a majority of his work. In quite a bit of his new work, he has added quirky, found, antique, physical pieces to add dimension and layered meaning to the core image. Frequently, the photography is covered either partially or completely by resin instead of the traditional glass.
He owned Don Byram Art, a Gallery and Frame Shop in Commerce, Georgia. He is a Past President of the Athens Photography Guild in Athens, Ga., as well as the Past President of the Conway League of Artists.
He has had solo shows in both Georgia, at The State Botanical Gardens of Georgia, and Arkansas, at galleries in Little Rock and Rogers. His art has been purchased by the Central Arkansas Library System for their permanent collection and pieces of his Galaxy Girl series are in many homes and businesses in the region. He is represented by several galleries in Central Arkansas, NWA, and St. Louis.
Why I want to be in this show. My cousin Jim died at the age of 50 from suicide.
As children, we went to school together, we spent most family holidays together, he was a year behind me in High School. After High School, he came out, to the surprise of his religiously conservative Arkansas family. To their credit, they did their best to adjust their world views, but some were more successful in doing so than others.
As adults we went our separate ways and lost all but occasional contact. He had a successful career and a full life until he ended it. Why did he commit suicide? No one knows. His partner still supports and works with Suicide Awareness programs in Dallas, after 10 years. His family still doesn't openly talk about it. Only Jim knew why and he took it to his grave. These portraits are of people across the spectrum of sexuality. All of them have taught me a little about what it means to be human.
Maybe, that's part of the answer I keep looking for.
About the art
Don was raised in Arkansas and after spending most of his adult and professional years away, moved back in state in 2016. As he says, “probably for the duration”.
His art is centered around photography. It started in college with an old film Pentax and a passion for composition. His midlife was spent earning a living and helping raise a family. In 2005, he picked up his first digital camera and got back to the art side. As time progressed, he has added antique and vintage frames to a majority of his work. In quite a bit of his new work, he has added quirky, found, antique, physical pieces to add dimension and layered meaning to the core image. Frequently, the photography is covered either partially or completely by resin instead of the traditional glass.
He owned Don Byram Art, a Gallery and Frame Shop in Commerce, Georgia. He is a Past President of the Athens Photography Guild in Athens, Ga., as well as the Past President of the Conway League of Artists.
He has had solo shows in both Georgia, at The State Botanical Gardens of Georgia, and Arkansas, at galleries in Little Rock and Rogers. His art has been purchased by the Central Arkansas Library System for their permanent collection and pieces of his Galaxy Girl series are in many homes and businesses in the region. He is represented by several galleries in Central Arkansas, NWA, and St. Louis.
Why I want to be in this show. My cousin Jim died at the age of 50 from suicide.
As children, we went to school together, we spent most family holidays together, he was a year behind me in High School. After High School, he came out, to the surprise of his religiously conservative Arkansas family. To their credit, they did their best to adjust their world views, but some were more successful in doing so than others.
As adults we went our separate ways and lost all but occasional contact. He had a successful career and a full life until he ended it. Why did he commit suicide? No one knows. His partner still supports and works with Suicide Awareness programs in Dallas, after 10 years. His family still doesn't openly talk about it. Only Jim knew why and he took it to his grave. These portraits are of people across the spectrum of sexuality. All of them have taught me a little about what it means to be human.
Maybe, that's part of the answer I keep looking for.