Daily Inspiration: Meet James Byun

Today we’d like to introduce you to James Byun

Hi James, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
A trip to the emergency room is where my journey began. 2019 was a year I battled severe depression and addiction. It was in that moment I knew I had come to a fork in the road; the easy path was to continue to live the same way, which led me to the ER in the first place or the other path. A path that looked far more difficult – one that consisted of facing internal demons, mending damaged relationships and leaving behind a type of life that I was familiar and comfortable with. Through the help of my then girlfriend, now wife, my brother, three new golf friends and my therapist, I’ve now been four years sober and found healing in a new hobby, photography.

As the pandemic and total shutdown of Los Angeles turned from two weeks to two months to two years, I found myself back on the golf course, loving the peacefulness of being outdoors at 5:30 in the morning before the typical nine to five grind started up again. Luckily the three friends I had met through a golf club, also shared the same love of the therapeutic peace that came from watching the sunrise while we walked with our golf clubs over our shoulders and connected over something that I had no prior experience in: creativity.

I had never been around ‘creatives’. I enlisted in the United States Army when I was 19, have been working in corporate America since 2004, and was raised by South Korean immigrants, where the idea of success was either becoming a doctor or lawyer. As I started to learn about my new friends and the world of photography/videography/directing/editing through my friends’ Jason’s eyes, writing and producing through Jose’s speech and music producing through Josh’s ears, I knew this was a world I wanted to be in.

Having had a love for photography my whole life, I finally decided to buy my first professional camera in 2020 and I put in every ounce of energy I had into learning how to properly compose photos and edit those photos into something that I was proud of. I shot and edited every day like my life depended on it – and thinking back on it, my life truly depended on it. This was the first time I didn’t feel like I was useless, a nobody, a failure, an embarrassment to my family and partner. I was starting to be happy with who I saw in the mirror.

Fast forward to 2024, I’ve done jobs for countless brands, courses and media companies and was awarded The Golfer’s Image 2023 ‘Portraits & People – Amateur Section’ photo winner and placed as runner-up in both ‘Golf Landscape’ and ‘Golf Lifestyle’ categories without any formal photography education or training. My style of photography came from a very dark place in my life, but now I find beauty and light every time I look through the viewfinder.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve learned that getting to a place where you want to be is never a smooth road. The toughest part of my journey was the ‘lonely chapter’.

To quote podcaster, Chris Williamson, “There is a period in everybody’s journey where they are so different because they’ve started to do new things that they no longer fit in with their old set of friends, but they’re not sufficiently developed that they’ve gained their new set of friends. And that lonely chapter, that’s in the middle, is something that I would say almost nobody that I’ve ever met who has gone from a place where they are to a place where they want to be, hasn’t gone through.”

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I currently work full time in commercial real estate, own and operate a photo booth company and, of course, shoot photography.

There are two specific times where I knew I did something I could be proud of. One – when I showed my parents that I had been awarded the winning photo of The Golfers Image 2023 ‘Portraits & People – Amateur Section.

The second moment was hitting a goal that I had set in my mind when I started to immerse myself in photography. The Golfers Journal, in my opinion, is the pinnacle of golf media. I told myself that if I were to ever shoot for The Golfers Journal, I would be happy even if I never got another job again. I randomly received a DM in January 2024 from the photo editor and was asked to shoot for one of their events. Given, I probably didn’t do the greatest job due to horrendous weather, I still have that paycheck framed and on my desk as a reminder.

How do you think about happiness?
My thoughts on ‘happiness’ have totally shifted after becoming sober. I’ve realized what actually matters in my life and decided to invest my time and energy in those particular areas in my life.

Family is the thing that comes to mind and spending time with them always makes me happy. As I got older, I found myself spending less and less time with my parents and my siblings. As humans, we don’t have much time on this earth, so being able to share time with the people you truly care about is the best feeling.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @greamgolf