Edward Byrne has spent his life invested in the arts. Taking visual mediums like film and photography and using them to tell his stories and views of the world we live in. This Valpo resident is currently a professor teaching at Valparaiso University as well as a photographer of his own photography studio.
"While I was in grad school, I used to be a film columnist for newspapers and magazines," says Byrne. "I was living in Utah working towards earning my Ph.D. and was taking film studies classes."
Along with his interest in film, Byrne also had a strong interest in photography and was invested in taking photos and being a photographer at the same time.
"I had a film camera and my own dark room," says Byrne. "Along with this, I have also written 10 books on poetry, all of this came down to my interest in scenes, scenes intrigued me."
Byrne, who's love of visual art and poetry allowed him to express himself through the use of setting up scenes whether through the stroke of a pen or behind the lens of a camera.
"People are always looking at images, these images and scenes can suggest a narrative and evoke emotions, many times different emotions from different people," says Byrne. "It allows me to create images through film and photograph. Truth be told, though, I didn't always enjoy the process of photography as much as the result. The chemicals and darkroom really hampered my enjoyment. Once things shifted to digital and the technology had finally caught up to the level of quality of film, I began to find myself enjoying the process once more."
After obtaining his Ph.D., Byrne was given several offers and through the recommendation of a friend living in Chicago, he decided to take a job offer teaching at Valparaiso University where he currently teaches today.
Byrne, who teaches creative writing courses at VU also works as a photographer, specializing in taking photos involving sports, landscape and portrait photography. Byrne enjoys living and working in the Valparaiso community, crediting it as being a reminder of his original stomping ground, New York City.
"When I was in New York, I enjoyed living on the coast and by living in Valparaiso, it allows me the same luxury of being close to the Dunes," says Byrne. " I ended up marrying someone who is from Valpo and afterward, quickly met people in the community and made friends. It's refreshing to have such a strong community feeling here."
When Byrne isn't teaching he is taking photos at the Dunes, his favorite location for photo shoots as well as the downtown Valparaiso area and at special events such as the Popcorn Festival.
For Byrne, the power of visual art is as significant as ever and through his own work, Byrne hopes that this message can be shared with both the Valparaiso and Northwest Indiana community.
"Both photography and film are ever present in society and to appreciate it you need historical and technical education," says Byrne. "Films and photos can be manipulated, every photo you look at is framed, a choice made each time, and by being more educated, we can appreciate and understand why the choices were made."
To see more of Byrne's photography, you can view his sports photography here and his landscape and portrait photography here.