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Photographer focuses on the abstract

Stina SiegPost Independent StaffGlenwood Springs, Colorado

NEW CASTLE , Colorado Theres beauty all around us, but that doesnt mean we always have the time to see it. Taking that time is what Byron Turners work is all about.As a photographer, Turner, 34, likes to focus in on everyday objects. His abstract pieces, extreme close-ups of things like rocks and ice and rusting cars are dramatic even if youre not quite sure what youre seeing. His depictions of color, texture and light say something to him, he explained, even if he doesnt know what it is until long after hes snapped the picture. That discovery is a just part of the whole process of creation a process he loves.If youre curious what his pieces might say to you, check out his latest, month-long exhibit, opening Monday in New Castle.When did you first know you were a photographer? I think it was probably around the late 90s. I would say 98 I started taking photo classes in Austin. Thats really when I started to get into photo. I did a few design classes before that, art history things, but I did get into photo then.As he explained it, the only reason why he was even on an artistic path was because of an event that had taken place in 1992.I was like the victim of road rage, coming back from Texas Tech University …I was riding back with a friend, and one thing led to another. This guy was trying to get around us on the road, and I think he was trying to shoot the tire out, and it went in the car and kind of went through a suitcase of luggage and hit me in the chest. So that kind of sent me into this whole, you know, Why am I here? What am I doing? And how do I see things? mind-set. And I started taking art classes shortly thereafter. In school, I kind of stopped going the business route and just plan a kind of thing. And I wasnt really talented, I dont think, at painting or drawing or some of those things, so thats when I started getting interested in photo.So, what do you think it was about the shooting that made you realize that art was a path you should be on? It just helped me realize sort of a respect for all things kind of mindset, and I think art was kind of a way for me to explore the world that exists around me in a different perspective. And it still kind of happens this day that way, where I take, you know, a little more time to see normal, ordinary-like things and try to see what is beyond that.What is it you really love about photography? I think I love photo for, you know, just the one-on-one kind of time I have with my subject matter. And a lot of times its, you know, just these mundane sort of objects that mean, like, maybe nothing to some people, but to me, they seem like they encompass everything. I dont really shoot people. Im not your typical wedding photographer or portrait photographer. And I dont go out and shoot beautiful mountains or Sopris, or Im not really that typical guy as far as photos are concerned. Im more abstraction, color or if its black-and-white, then its pretty abstract by its lack of color.

Why do you think you go for the close-ups and the abstraction? I think it just gives me time to, to be with whatever Im doing at that time, and when I get closer to things, sometimes I feel a more intimate relationship. And then just the overall spending the time with whatever Im doing is what its all about, not just kind of checking it off and saying, OK, Im done. Whats next? … Its more of a way for me to enjoy the actual moment of life.Do you have something you want to say to people with your photos? If I would say anything to people, it would be that its not always what it seems that it is, its kind of, what else is it? And just maybe that question and make people think beyond, you know, the form of the thing, and maybe a look to the oneness of all of life that in us all and everything. Were all different but we all are tied together here by life and bound to ebb and flow with time.Whats the most important thing in your life as a photographer, as a person? As a photographer, I would say light. Thats what reveals whats in front of you and gives you detail and gives you color. It gives you it gives you life. And I think as a person, thats the most important thing in your life is light, too.


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