b e h i n d . t h e . w h i t e . p i c k e t . f e n c e

photos courtesy of Beck Rocchi from commongroundbyron.com/

Byron is a funny old town. People are always on the move. I don't mean that in a 'can't sit still' way, I mean that people come and then they go. As we welcomed the last day of Summer I couldn't help but feel slightly nostalgic. Not only are the tourists leaving but so too are the people who have lived here over the Summer. It's a bittersweet time.

Making friends in any new town is difficult and I'll admit that it has taken a good 6 months to establish a social network here. A few weeks ago I was talking with a friend about the difficulties of making friends with real locals and not just the "local tourists".

'I just don't see the point in making friends with people who are just going to up and leave in a month or so' I complained.

She smiled and replied 'That's the beauty of Byron I guess. When someone leaves, another person arrives'.

So your social circle is an ever-contracting, ever-expanding "organism". I was recently invited by a friend to an Inside Out Project Gallery exhibition. A Byron share house had transformed their rental home into an exhibition for underground and emerging artists with all proceeds being donated to charity. It was a night full of beautiful prints, photographs, woodwork, recycled threads, as well as trendy people in recycled threads, laughter, drinks on the porch and even a wade pool. It was the best night I've had in a long time and the best part...it was full of locals.
It's hard to capture and illustrate life in Byron. However I think the Swedish twins Sebastian and Jonatan Lundmark have managed to get pretty close. Check it out for yourself...


xx