Meet Billy Yarbrough | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Billy Yarbrough and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Billy, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I think about risk all the time, How has it shaped me as a creative and how necessary it can be. Earlier this year I left a great job working In-House for a massive group of global brands and decided it was time to go out on my own in the middle of a pandemic. It sounds really dumb but it was a calculated risk. I think just the action of doing that open something up for me that lead to new things. I got off the call with my former boss and within the hour I received two freelance jobs and felt so relieved and supported that I made the right decision. Risk can also be in the actual making of art as well. Artists and creatives are inherently risk takers in that they dare to put their ideas out there with the risk of failure. That failure is to be seen as an opportunity to grow and learn from those mistakes and thus lead to even more successful work.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
What I like most about my art is that I am less interested in forcing a voice to emerge as I am getting interested in a bunch of different things and letting my voice happen naturally. I don’t think Im there yet creatively but I like the journey of getting there too. Having gratitude and grace for myself is something I try to practice as well. If someone out there is looking to be inspired by something they are reading then I hope they at least take this; if you’re discouraged about having a path or in a rut, just keep trying new things even if you’re only remotely interested in it. you start to refine you life by failing a lot

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Lets just assume the coast is clear so-to-speak in terms of a pandemic. If my friend was in San Clemente, I would take them to Rapport Coffee make them my (not so) Famous egg sandwich, we would try to get active by surfing hit some golf balls. We would maybe take a train to a brewery in San Diego like Juneshine, and eat at MRK Public on thew patio with some wine and cheese plate from The Cellar.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have a lot of people Id like to thank for helping me out. The community in orange county has been so supportive so for sake of brevity ill keep it to my OC creative homies. Lindsey Bro, Trever Girard, Sean Smetona, Amy and Jen Hood at Hoodzpah, Ryan Hack and Aaron Shintaku at Foxes and Wolves, Matt Morgan, Brandon Hoogenboom, Kyle Krone, Hannah Fuchsera and Mom.

Website: www.billyyarbrough.com
Instagram: @billy.yarbrough
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billyyarbrough/