Polaroid Reimagined 2026
I begin with polaroids taken of ordinary scenes in my neighborhood. When I add animals, insects, people, and objects to the mix, this ordinary scene ignites into a richly imagined tableau - moments frozen in time. Some are whimsical, others disquieting.
Narrative is open ended. Make up your own stories for what you see.
Maintaining the polaroid format preserves its origins and plays with memory.
When radically enlarged, the scale deviation is disconcerting as well as inviting.
I print on a polyester weave vinyl substrate in a variety of sizes, usually framed, 43 x 36 and larger.
James Byrne
"Backyard Pool" was selected for Open Call:
a Celebration of Contemporary Photography exhibition at
PhotoPlace, Middlebury, VT, August 2026.
Also included in Making Strange at Praxis Photo Art
Center, Minneapolis, July 2026.
AI assist. Reasonable facsimile of an imaginary gallery.
Each photograph is 43 x 36, black floater frame.
"Long Day's Journey" was selected for two group shows:
Variations, D'art Gallery, Denver, October 2026,
and upcoming at the Center for Photographic Art,
Carmel, CA, December 2026, juried by Lisa Volpe, Curator of Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
AI assist. Reasonable facsimile of an imaginary gallery. Each photograph, 43 x 36, black floater frame.
AI assist. Reasonable facsimile of an imaginary gallery. Each photograph, 43 x 36, black floater frame.
Recent group and individual exhibitions. Video works and film are noted in bold.
2026
International Juried Exhibition, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA, Juror Lisa Volpe, "Long Day's Journey", December 2026
Variations, D'art Gallery, Denver, CO, "Long Day's Journey", October 2026
Open Call: A Celebration of Contemporary Photography, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT, "Backyard Pool", August 2026
Untitled 20, Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN
Light Cut On Paper: Photography and Collage, New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Making Strange, Praxis Photo Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN, "Backyard Pool",July 2026
2025
A Memory to Enshrine, Gamut Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2024
Airport 2024, Atlanta Photo Group, Atlanta International Airport Gallery, GA
Flying Objects, Edgewater Gallery, Fort Brag, CA
When Photography Meets Collage, New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery, New Orleans, LA
360 Degrees - Looking at Last Year, D’art Gallery, Denver, CO
2023
James Byrne: Unforeseen Anomalies, individual exhibition, Pump House Regional Arts Center, La Crosse, WI
Light, SE Center for Photography, Greenville, SC
2022
PhotoMidwest 12th Biennial, Promega Gallery, Madison, WI
North of the 45th, DeVos Art Museum, Lafayette, MI
Inside Out/Upside Down, Cultural Center of Cape Cod, Cape Cod, MA
Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival; Official Selection, short film
Pressing Innovations, Chazen Museum of Art, Madison, WI
Shadow Perspective, Praxis Photo Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN
2021
James Byrne: New Works, individual exhibition, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hopkins
Global Groove, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany; short video
Alternative Facts: Photography by Any Means, PACE Center Gallery, Denver, CO;
Arts North International, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hopkins, MN
Spot On #2, D'art Gallery, Denver, CO
2020
The Body Electric, Museum of Art and Design, Miami, FL; video installation
Videotapes: Early Video Art, Zacheta-National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland, short video
Art Inspired by Music, Vine Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN
Emerge, D'art Gallery, Denver, CO
Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, Official Selection, short film
2019
The Body Electric, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, video installation
The Body Electric, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, video installation
Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, Official Selection, short film