photography – Scott Murphy

Still Light

A winter river at dusk with snow along the banks and bare trees reflected in still, partially frozen water. The low sun glows through thin cloud, and the sky remains light at 4:30 pm.

I must confess that I haven’t been out shooting much these past weeks. The cold settled in, the snow kept coming, and the days seemed to contract around that reality. Recently, though, I’ve reenergized myself and returned to exploring the Rideau Canal shorelines once again. Yesterday I made my way back to Upper Brewers Lockstation.Continue reading “Still Light”

True Stray: Specimen B/13•B/21

An overturned shopping cart frozen at the edge of a river in winter, partially embedded in ice, with smooth long exposure water surrounding it and a rail bridge visible in the background.

A field note informed by Julian Montague’s taxonomy of stray shopping carts. An overturned cart at the river’s edge is examined as a Class B True Stray, shaped first by human intervention and later by water, ice, and time.

Windows and Mirrors

What is the nature of photography? One analogy, proposed by John Szarkowski, is that a photograph could be seen either as a mirror or as a window. In the first instance, such as with a self-portrait, it’s an expression of the photographer’s self. In the latter, such as a crime scene evidence photo, a photographContinue reading “Windows and Mirrors”