On the way

Galen Burke

Born in in Bloomington, Indiana, the Midwest’s coolest college town, Galen grew up in Thomasville, Georgia, a ten minute drive to the state line and a twenty minute drive to Tallahassee, Florida.

Galen came to the University of Georgia thinking that he wanted to be a dentist, but, as he spent more time at the University, he realized that oral hygiene was not for him. In the process, he began dabbling in photography, art, dance and botany.

Galen’s love of the outdoors was linked with his passion for plants. For several summers, he worked in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, a small park just north of Atlanta, doing plant surveys. The work was always hard and sweaty, coming in the middle of the withering Georgia summer. But he never complained about getting paid to work outdoors with plants.

Galen’s love of art and photography developed along a different path. Working in the art school as a nude model, he began spending more time going out to do self-indulgent projects and experimenting with lenses and antiquated camera equipment. After graduating, he progressively took more and more commercial jobs, honing his photography skills, until he was a professional photographer and videographer. He has shot weddings, music videos, concerts, and a variety of other events. He was the lead photographer for Speed Week, a series of bicycle races across the South that starts with Athens, Georgia’s Twilight Criterium. Most recently, he was a cameraman for “Party Down South,” Country Music Television’s Southern tribute to the “Jersey Shore” (Galen is not responsible for any of the show’s content).

With a strong background in photography, Galen is responsible for planning and executing the visual aspects of Silk Road Hitchhikers. Being behind the camera, he may appear less in the photos, but he is the group’s eyes.