allcitiesarebeautiful.com / #allcitiesarebeautiful

Interview • 027 PH

Mike Murphy

Los Angeles, California, USA

Please introduce yourself: What is your name, where are you from, what do you do?

My name is Mike Murphy. I grew up in Huntington Beach, California and currently reside in Los Angeles. I work as a television script researcher. Before that, I spent 30+ years as a motion picture editor.

What is your relationship with photography? How did you get into it and what keeps you interested or motivated?

I started photographing and making Super-8 movies in high school back in the mid 1970’s, shooting mostly skateboarding, landscapes and punk rock concerts. When I went to college I focused more on filmmaking. I took photos sporadically for the next 30 years until about 4 years ago when a friend gave me her digital camera. This restarted my passion for still photography.

In 2013 I got an iPhone and started what has become this project. With these photographs I have tried to reference my biggest influences, Walker Evans, Lewis Baltz and Steven Shore, but in my on style.

What keeps me going is that there is so much life in this city to see and document.

This project has taken me to neighborhoods and cities I would never have explored on my own. The other thing is simply the «hunt», the obsession to find that next great photo.

What are you currently working on, and—if there is—what is your next project or journey?

Besides continuing on my Los Angeles series, I have been working on a project documenting California’s Central Valley, its towns and vast industrial agriculture. I also have a book possibly coming out this summer with Kozu Books in the UK that focuses on my Los Angeles work.

Thank you, Mike!

Artist Statement:

All these photos were shot in the greater Los Angeles, California area. I shoot with an iPhone, in pano mode, attached to the passenger side window, and use a selfie stick as a remote shutter to shoot the passing landscape. The only post is cropping and color correction.

Editorial Notes:

If you have a project that you would like to present on this platform, please feel free to share it using the submission form.

Photography: Mike Murphy (2018)
Location: Bejing, China

Links: Website, Instagram, Blog