Interview: Michael David Murphy
Today’s interview subject, Michael David Murphy, is the guy behind 2point8, a great photo blog with an emphasis on street photography.
Liz: When I first found your blog, I fell in love with the Ways of Working posts that you did. I was terrified of photographing people, especially strangers, and you laid it all out there in a way that made sense to me—almost like a playbook. Have you always been a street photographer? Or did you have to work up the courage to photograph people on the street?
Michael: Ways of Working came about because I didn’t know anyone in San Francisco who was as fired up about photography as I was, so I figured I’d shoot and take notes and share my thoughts with whoever might find them valuable, and maybe I’d learn something myself along the way. I was hoping they’d read like a playbook, of sorts.
Photography guards its secrets, and I’m pro-transparency, especially when it reveals failure. So I was photographing a lot, and failing, and that led me to textually explore the hows and whys of what worked and what didn’t. I was teaching myself how to photograph in two ways: on the street with my camera, and after, in words (and at the library). Each helped me grow, equally.
On the courage front, I’ve fabricated a kind of bluster, which works in a pinch. Courage implies a fear of something that needs to be conquered. If you don’t think things are scary, there’s no fear. So generally, I don’t consider any of it scary, so I don’t have any fear. This did not come naturally, though.
I like people enough, I suppose, but I came to photography via big love for Ross McElwee, the Maysles, Chris Marker, Les Blank, and Barbara Kopple. I like dealing with people when they’re filtered by incredible editors, be they filmmakers or photographers. Up close, we’re a difficult and squirrelly bunch. The rub is, to get gold, you have to get in there and at least try to play the social game, even if you’re dressed like Joel Meyerowitz. [Michael provided a link to a post in which he pointed to a video of Meyerowitz shooting. I liked the video so much I’m posting it here. And if you’re a real Joel junkie, you may be interested in listening to an interview that Ibarionex Perello did with him.—Ed.]
L: What is it about street photography that you like? What are you looking for on the street? Which street photographers do you admire most and why?
M: Street photography is sport. Not like duck hunting or archery, more like soccer, or basketball, or even boxing. At its root for me, it’s a physical exploration. I may not run all over the place bobbing and weaving, but the success of street photographs has everything to do with getting your body in the right place at the right time so that your skill as a photographer can do the rest of the job, whether it’s a perfect-moment kind of picture, or something slower, borne of conversation with a stranger.
It’s about your eye, but it’s also about your ability to haul yourself through space so you can use your skill, dumb luck, and foresight to get the picture. It’s like catching a pass—you plan it out, predict where the ball’s going to be, make last-minute adjustments, and hope you’re not going to run smack into the fullback.
Accordingly, I started photographing on the street after sustaining three concussions playing soccer. I think there was a bike wreck in there, too. The concussions slowed me down, and my little Nikon digital was beginning to interest me. I enjoyed photographing, but I wanted to push myself to shoot more than the typical photo fodder of dogs, flowers, and fireworks.
My favorite pictures from then (2001–2002) were from photographers who’d begun publishing on the Web. (This is the first round of “photobloggers,” who will always be the real photobloggers, to me.) Eliot Shepard, Lucas Shuman, Todd Gross, Mark Powell. The more I looked at Eliot’s and Mark’s work, the more I knew what I liked, and the more inspired I became to take a wide look at the whole history of photography.
I’m most impressed by photographers who’ve cut their teeth on the street, but have “graduated,” like Mitch Epstein. My favorites shoot like I do (vice versa, most likely), and embrace the imperfections of flux. [Lars] Tunbjork, [Tod] Papageorge, [Mark] Steinmetz, [Martin] Parr (at times), Rosalind Solomon, [Larry] Fink, [Brian] Finke, [Susan] Meiselas. I look at [Garry] Winogrand’s Public Relations more than most. Some Meyerowitz. And then there’s [Joel] Sternfeld, whether or not he fits that mold.
L: I think I read that you were working for Atlanta Celebrates Photography. Do you want to talk a little about what that is and what you do there? How do you fit in your own photographic work with the day job?
M: We put together a city-wide, monthlong photography festival in Atlanta at nearly two hundred venues during the month of October. We have lectures, openings, public art projects, portfolio reviews, a film series, educational programs, and more. I’m the program manager there. We’re a two-person nonprofit, with volunteers and a fantastic board of directors. October’s an exhilarating whirlwind. Ya’ll should come down, or over!
As a photographer, I’m lucky to have a schedule that allows me to shoot when I need to shoot, which is a luxury after a corporate career. I owe it to Jason Fulford, who curated the public art project Paper Placemats (ATL) for ACP last year. He chose a picture of mine for the project, and gave me the heads-up about the organization. I was new in town, came aboard, and it’s all worked out nicely. Check out ACP Now!, our corner of the photoblog universe.
L: Where are you going with your photography? What’s on your wish list in terms of your photo work?
M: Street photography is a hamster wheel. It’s a limitless game of limitations. I’m as fascinated by it as I was by poetry, because it’s both proscriptive and infinite. It’s what you make of it. Because it’s fairly prohibitive here in Atlanta (pedestrian culture: slim to none), I’m heading in other directions, which has been a surprise bonus since leaving San Francisco.
I’ve been shooting the campaign trail here through the South, since November. I have a few Atlanta-specific projects in process that I’ve been shooting with a 4 x 5. Portraits, even!
Wishes:
L: I just got a US$37.50 store credit from photo-eye. What one photo book should I put that money toward buying? And why?
M: Cancel the credit and spend it on home or renter’s insurance! Take an hour and write down each and every serial number for every item of equipment you own. When we were robbed a few months ago, I wished I had one sheet of paper with all that info, so I could get on the phone with insurance and start demanding replacement cash, stat.
If not insurance, get Sternfeld’s On This Site. There are good books, and then there’s that book, which is so good it’s frightening. That book’s a long, satisfying punch in the face. Every time I have a copy, I give it away to someone and have to find another. It’s my photobook hot potato.
Liz: When I first found your blog, I fell in love with the Ways of Working posts that you did. I was terrified of photographing people, especially strangers, and you laid it all out there in a way that made sense to me—almost like a playbook. Have you always been a street photographer? Or did you have to work up the courage to photograph people on the street?
Michael: Ways of Working came about because I didn’t know anyone in San Francisco who was as fired up about photography as I was, so I figured I’d shoot and take notes and share my thoughts with whoever might find them valuable, and maybe I’d learn something myself along the way. I was hoping they’d read like a playbook, of sorts.
Photography guards its secrets, and I’m pro-transparency, especially when it reveals failure. So I was photographing a lot, and failing, and that led me to textually explore the hows and whys of what worked and what didn’t. I was teaching myself how to photograph in two ways: on the street with my camera, and after, in words (and at the library). Each helped me grow, equally.
On the courage front, I’ve fabricated a kind of bluster, which works in a pinch. Courage implies a fear of something that needs to be conquered. If you don’t think things are scary, there’s no fear. So generally, I don’t consider any of it scary, so I don’t have any fear. This did not come naturally, though.
I like people enough, I suppose, but I came to photography via big love for Ross McElwee, the Maysles, Chris Marker, Les Blank, and Barbara Kopple. I like dealing with people when they’re filtered by incredible editors, be they filmmakers or photographers. Up close, we’re a difficult and squirrelly bunch. The rub is, to get gold, you have to get in there and at least try to play the social game, even if you’re dressed like Joel Meyerowitz. [Michael provided a link to a post in which he pointed to a video of Meyerowitz shooting. I liked the video so much I’m posting it here. And if you’re a real Joel junkie, you may be interested in listening to an interview that Ibarionex Perello did with him.—Ed.]
L: What is it about street photography that you like? What are you looking for on the street? Which street photographers do you admire most and why?
M: Street photography is sport. Not like duck hunting or archery, more like soccer, or basketball, or even boxing. At its root for me, it’s a physical exploration. I may not run all over the place bobbing and weaving, but the success of street photographs has everything to do with getting your body in the right place at the right time so that your skill as a photographer can do the rest of the job, whether it’s a perfect-moment kind of picture, or something slower, borne of conversation with a stranger.
It’s about your eye, but it’s also about your ability to haul yourself through space so you can use your skill, dumb luck, and foresight to get the picture. It’s like catching a pass—you plan it out, predict where the ball’s going to be, make last-minute adjustments, and hope you’re not going to run smack into the fullback.
Accordingly, I started photographing on the street after sustaining three concussions playing soccer. I think there was a bike wreck in there, too. The concussions slowed me down, and my little Nikon digital was beginning to interest me. I enjoyed photographing, but I wanted to push myself to shoot more than the typical photo fodder of dogs, flowers, and fireworks.
My favorite pictures from then (2001–2002) were from photographers who’d begun publishing on the Web. (This is the first round of “photobloggers,” who will always be the real photobloggers, to me.) Eliot Shepard, Lucas Shuman, Todd Gross, Mark Powell. The more I looked at Eliot’s and Mark’s work, the more I knew what I liked, and the more inspired I became to take a wide look at the whole history of photography.
I’m most impressed by photographers who’ve cut their teeth on the street, but have “graduated,” like Mitch Epstein. My favorites shoot like I do (vice versa, most likely), and embrace the imperfections of flux. [Lars] Tunbjork, [Tod] Papageorge, [Mark] Steinmetz, [Martin] Parr (at times), Rosalind Solomon, [Larry] Fink, [Brian] Finke, [Susan] Meiselas. I look at [Garry] Winogrand’s Public Relations more than most. Some Meyerowitz. And then there’s [Joel] Sternfeld, whether or not he fits that mold.
Copyright © Michael David Murphy
L: I think I read that you were working for Atlanta Celebrates Photography. Do you want to talk a little about what that is and what you do there? How do you fit in your own photographic work with the day job?
M: We put together a city-wide, monthlong photography festival in Atlanta at nearly two hundred venues during the month of October. We have lectures, openings, public art projects, portfolio reviews, a film series, educational programs, and more. I’m the program manager there. We’re a two-person nonprofit, with volunteers and a fantastic board of directors. October’s an exhilarating whirlwind. Ya’ll should come down, or over!
As a photographer, I’m lucky to have a schedule that allows me to shoot when I need to shoot, which is a luxury after a corporate career. I owe it to Jason Fulford, who curated the public art project Paper Placemats (ATL) for ACP last year. He chose a picture of mine for the project, and gave me the heads-up about the organization. I was new in town, came aboard, and it’s all worked out nicely. Check out ACP Now!, our corner of the photoblog universe.
Copyright © Michael David Murphy
L: Where are you going with your photography? What’s on your wish list in terms of your photo work?
M: Street photography is a hamster wheel. It’s a limitless game of limitations. I’m as fascinated by it as I was by poetry, because it’s both proscriptive and infinite. It’s what you make of it. Because it’s fairly prohibitive here in Atlanta (pedestrian culture: slim to none), I’m heading in other directions, which has been a surprise bonus since leaving San Francisco.
I’ve been shooting the campaign trail here through the South, since November. I have a few Atlanta-specific projects in process that I’ve been shooting with a 4 x 5. Portraits, even!
Wishes:
- Find a unique, original space to hang So Help Me. . . on election eve in November. I’ve been recording speeches on the campaign trail, while shooting. I want to hang a show of all the campaign work I’ve been shooting, and flood the space with swirling audio, red/white/blue bunting, TVs showing election returns, all held together by fantastic prints. My inner military brat might rupture after an evening like that. Go, team!
- Publish the book version of unphotographable.com.
- Build a new project called blinding.us.
- Long term and impractical; write the book that needs to be written about Winogrand, with or without permission.
Copyright © Michael David Murphy
L: I just got a US$37.50 store credit from photo-eye. What one photo book should I put that money toward buying? And why?
M: Cancel the credit and spend it on home or renter’s insurance! Take an hour and write down each and every serial number for every item of equipment you own. When we were robbed a few months ago, I wished I had one sheet of paper with all that info, so I could get on the phone with insurance and start demanding replacement cash, stat.
If not insurance, get Sternfeld’s On This Site. There are good books, and then there’s that book, which is so good it’s frightening. That book’s a long, satisfying punch in the face. Every time I have a copy, I give it away to someone and have to find another. It’s my photobook hot potato.
Labels: blogs, books, Garry Winogrand, Ibarionex Perello, interviews, Jason Fulford, Joel Meyerowitz, Joel Sternfeld, Lars Tunbjork, Michael David Murphy, Mitch Epstein, photographers, poetry, portraits
posted by Liz at 12:51 PM
5 Comments:
Fantastic. Another great one, Liz. I'm loving 'em.
"On This Site" is one the first photo books I bought--got it for 2.50 at a used book store in South Bend. Best purchase ever. Blows my mind.
he's the man
Thanks, Tim. Man, you scored with that $2.50 copy of On This Site. Used copies are selling for $40.05 right now at Amazon.com; new copies are $155.55.
Raoul, yeah, Michael is cool.
Great interview. Cool guy. Love his work.
Great interview and definitely a cool guy... and the Meyerowitz video is hilarious. Maybe it was just a fluke, but the audio and video weren't quite synced up (which made it even better).
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