Click on each image for a narrative about the photograph.

This exhibition gave me the opportunity to think of the various projects I’ve created over the years in a different way. Most images are seen in a particular context, where one photo is directly related to another to create a coherent narrative flow but this exhibition was not bound by typical guidelines. I felt free to choose images that I felt stood alone and did not need a specific context, like place, a particular era, subjects related to events or cultural or current topical themes.

The evolution of how images are linked or sequentially presented has changed for me. While I do work along the traditional methods of context, presentation and images related to themes, I have begun to think of my photographs as poems that allow me to create a very personal relationship with the images, hopefully these ideas and feelings translate to the viewer but when taking chances with intent the end result can never be calculated or predicable.

The images presented are from two extended life projects, “Creoles of Louisiana”, who reside in different parts of the state of Louisiana and is about a culture of mixed ancestry that Louisiana is well know for and stretches back to the origins of the state. “El Viajero” (The Traveler) is about visits to Mexico over several decades and is more about what I discovered over the years as a traveler; one who moves about and through a vibrant and beautiful country and discovers something not only about the place but as importantly, about oneself.

Owen Murphy, Sept.10, 2021

featured image credit: Manuel – He taught Spanish to many people who lived in Mexico and the town of San Miguel de Allende. I was drawn to the monumental nature of his head, which reminded me of monolithic Rapa Nui heads of Easter Island. ©Owen Murphy

Bio:

Owen Murphy Jr. is a freelance documentary, born and raised in New Orleans. After living in New York City and San Francisco, Murphy returned to New Orleans in the mid 70’s to begin his photographic career. He helped create New Orleans’ first photographic cooperative, The Photo Exchange, and embarked on a lifetime of exhibiting personal work, teaching, and establishing a professional commercial business. He is a recipient of a Photography Fellowship from the State of Louisiana in 1998. In 2006 he received grants from the Joe and Dorsett Brown Foundation, the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center Katrina Art Fund, and the State of Louisiana Cultural Initiative. His work is in numerous private collections as well as those at the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Louisiana State Museum, the Roger Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and the Historic New Orleans Collection.

In 2006, he co-founded the New Orleans Photo Alliance, a non-profit arts organizations, and was the first president of the Alliance, crafting it’s bylaws, filing for it’s 501(c)(3), securing it’s first exhibition gallery, and providing leadership for the first 2 years.

Contact Information:

www.owenmurphyphotography.com

omphoto@mac.com

504-610-4899