The work of British photographer Matthew Murray is shaped by an eclectic vibrancy of experience, his inspiration springing from his everyday visual encounters and extensive travels. Alongside an on-going flow of personal projects, Murray also produces high-end editorial and advertising campaigns for world-leading agencies.
In 2015, Pleasure in Leisure was published by Cafe Royal Books, documenting the pursuits and exploits of summer holiday goers. Finding humour and curiosity in these snapshot moments of sun, sand and sightseeing, the images in Pleasure in Leisure and the wider ongoing project of Murray’s World capture the weird and the wonderful found in getaway destinations like Benidorm, Florida and Blackpool.
Skilled in capturing underexplored and unexpected moments of vulnerability in his portraits, the 2013 series SKA documents the subculture of hardcore ska fans, while the 2014 series Stripper playfully toys with themes of exposure. Photographing the UK Pleasure Boys, the UK’s premium male stripping service, Murray’s images explore the seduction, awkwardness and intimacy wrapped up in the experience of portrait sitting. Masking the subjects’ physiques through a dark filter, Murray encourages the viewer to slowly inspect the image, evoking the sense of voyeurism played with in the performative act of stripping.
Murray’s series Saddleworth: Responding to a Landscape explores the minutiae and vastness of landscape photography. In this work Murray occupies a position within a long lineage of landscape artists, paying homage to the light and texture of Dutch Seventeenth Century landscape painting. The Saddleworth series was showcased at mac, Birmingham in 2017 alongside a symposium on landscape photography, and at Elliott Gallery in Amsterdam in 2018. The monograph for the Saddleworth series, published by Gallery Vassie (Elliott Gallery former name), was awarded first prize in the 2018 International Photography Awards.
Murray’s impressive body of work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in both solo and group exhibitions in Paris, London, Amsterdam, Berlin and Cologne. His work is included in the collections of a number of art institutions and private collections, the permanent collections of MOMA, New York, The Tate, London, The Victoria & Albert Museum, London and The British Library. Murray continues to live and work in Birmingham, UK.
