Byron Copland A Brunswick West alley

It was the intrigue of human activity in this narrow alley, at one remove from the more communal street, which captured Byron Copland’s attention – ‘its varying textures, shapes and colours – the unmistakable character of a well-worn place, and the stories you imagine it could tell’.

Copland – a first-time Wynne finalist – observed countless people and unusual incidents from the rear balcony of his Melbourne home, but painted the lane empty to amplify a sense of its anonymous histories.

Working en plein air, Copland intended to only make a sketch, but became absorbed by the details and intimacy of the scene.