The New Indian Express ·
Seamus Murphy’s journey from war photography to everyday life
“Every life is in many days, day after day,” author James Joyce writes in Ulysses. The line is a fitting title for the work of photographer Seamus Murphy, who has spent over four decades documenting everyday lives across the world. Murphy’s photographs are now on view for the first time in India at the Life is in Many Days exhibition hosted by Museo Camera in Gurugram.
The seven-time World Press Photo award recipient has photographed places shaped by conflict, political change and social upheaval, including India, Afghanistan, Gaza, Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Ireland. What has been constant is his focus on people, their relationships and the moments that reveal something about their lives. “I do photograph people a lot. I like landscapes, but I like people more,” he says. The exhibition is curated by Zelda Cheatle.
Afghanistan occupies a significant place in his career. Murphy first travelled to the country in 1994, at a time when, “there was no interest” in it, he says. His documentation of the different periods of conflict resulted in three books — A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan (2008), I Am the Beggar of the World (2014) and The Hollow of the Hand (2015), the latter made in collaboration with poet and musician PJ Harvey.
