LUMIX Festival of Young Photojournalism - Hannover, Germany
Jun 2020
Related
50JPG - 50 Days for Photography in Geneva - Geneva, Switzerland
Jun – Aug 2020
Related
Athens Photo Festival - Athens, Greece
Jun – Jul 2020
Related
Belfast Photo Festival - Belfast, Ireland
Jun 2020
Related
PHotoEspaña - Madrid, Spain
Jun – Sept 2020
Related
Photonic Moments - Ljubljana, Slovenia
Jun 2020
Related
Copenhagen Photo Festival - Copenhagen, Denmark
Jun 4 -14 2020
Related
Antiparos Photo Festival - Antiparos, Greece
Jul 2020
Related
Voies Off - Arles, France
Jul 2020
Related
WARM Festival - Sarajevo, Bosnia
Jun – Jul 2020
Related
Fotoseptiembre: San Antonio, Texas
July 2020
Related
Fotonoviembre - Tenerife, Spain
Jul – Sep 2020
Related
Helsinki Photo Festival: HELPHOTO - Helsinki, Finland
Ju1 – Sep 2020
Related
FotoFest International - Houston, Texas
Mar – April 2020
Related
Higashikawa International Photo Festival - Higashikawa, Japan
Aug 2020
Related
Visa Pour L’Image – Perpignan, France
Aug – Sep 2020
Related
Mt. Rokko International Photography Festival - Kobe, Japan
Aug – Sep 2020
Related
Obscura Festival - George Town, Malaysia
Aug 2020
Related
Wiesbadener Fototage - Wiesbaden, Germany
Aug – Sep 2020
Related
Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Aug 21 – Aug 23 2020
Related
Landskrona Foto Festival - Landskrona, Sweden
Sept 2020
Related
Singapore International Photo Festival - Singapore, Malaysia
Sept – Dec 2020
Related
Backlight Photo Festival - Tampere, Finland
Sep – Oct 2020
Related
Xposure Festival - Sharjah, UAE
Sep 2020
Related
Verzasca Foto Festival - Valle Verzasca, Switzerland
Sep 2020
Related
BredaPhoto: International Photo Festival - Breda, Netherlands
Sept 09 – Oct 25 2020
Related
FotoFocus - Cincinatti, Ohio
Oct 01 – Oct 31 2020
Related
Brighton Photo Biennal - Brighton, UK
Oct – Nov 2020
Related
Brighton Photo Fringe - Brighton, UK
Oct – Nov 2020
Related
PhotoVisa - Krasnodar, Russia
Oct 2020
Related
Photo Oxford - Oxford, UK
Oct 16 – Nov 16 2020
Related
Doha Photography Festival - Doha, Qatar
Nov 2020
Related
Addis Foto Fest - Addis Abeba, Ethiopia
Dec 3 – Dec 20 2020
Related
Diffusion Festival - Cardiff, UK
Apr 01 – Apr 30 2021
Related
Month of Photography - Luxembourg
April 2021
Related
San Jose Foto - San Jose, Uruguay
09 Apr – 11 Apr 2020
Related
Triennale der Photographie Hamburg - Germany, Hamburg
May – Sep 2021
Related
BIP - Biennial of the Possible Image, Liège, Belgium
Jan 2021
Related
GuatePhoto - Guatemala City, Guatemala
Nov 2021
Related
Death and decay, the precarious fate of humanity, our disregard for the environment; it would be easy (though complacent) to see The Abyss Gazes Into You as an exhibition seeped in cynicism. It doesn’t help to dissuade this impression that Nietzsche, a philosopher with a notorious reputation as a nihilist, is quoted for the exhibition’s title. However, while a sense of desolation and existential despair may be a strain running through the work, it’s the wider sweep of existence and how we relate to it that Spencer Murphy is captivated by, and eager to explore.
Greatly influenced by the 18th century Romantic Movement, especially the landscape painter Caspar David Friedrich, Murphy expresses a similar fascination for the majesty and intangibility of nature.Like Friedrich’s Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog (1817), the exhibition includes a number of photographs in which lone figures look thoughtfully over wild, sprawling landscapes.In Kurt and Jara, Lighthouse Beach, Tasmania, 2010, a man stands atop his van staring out over the ocean as the sun starts to go down, in an assumed communion with the natural world.Elevated as such, his diminished aspect contrasts against the vast stretch of sky.In capturing these contemplative figures reflecting on the natural world, attention is in turn drawn to their significance in the grand scheme of things.In contemplating the external world, they are forced also to contemplate themselves.
As Murphy explains, nature is both divine and dangerous, “the creator and potential destroyer of man.”This uneasy relationship is perfectly encapsulated in Dawn, Bewl Water, 2009.Taken on a winter’s day, four men stand in the middle of a frozen lake, chatting on the body of ice which stretches across the frame.Their presence in the photo is vaguely incongruous.Despite the incipient danger, their casual posture and body language suggests young friends hanging out on a street corner.This photo illustrates the delicate balance between us and the natural world; evoking its beauty but also the possibility that it could collapse under us at any moment.
His work also explores our interdependency with the world and the idea that “although we are a part of the natural world, we see ourselves as separate from it and somehow as higher beings”.In other words, we see ourselves as inhabitants on earth but not of being “of” the earth.Our symbiotic relationship with nature is evident in both the photos Fox By a Pile of Tin, 2006 and Tin Mountain.In the former, human activity is indicated by the pile of rusted metal in the junk yard, a single fox sitting at its edge.In the later, the populousness of the human race and our wastefulness is suggested by having disused tin fill the frame from side to side, bottom to top, with just a small slither of sky to make clear its towering proportions.These images highlight that, as much as nature can be vast and destructive, our own actions can be as foreboding and disastrous to the ecology we inhabit.
The work presented here is beguiling, mysterious.Partly about how we relate to the world and how the world relates to us.As Murphy himself admits, the essence of the collection is difficult to articulate, “as it’s more about a feeling or emotion that strikes us in those moments [of contemplation].”It would seem then that the aim of his work is embodying those rare instances of enlightenment when, like a Rubik’s cube finally fitting together, the universe silently whispers its secrets in your ear and everything makes sense, if only for a second.
Daniel Pateman
Daniel Pateman studied Humanities and Media at Birkbeck University and continues to indulge his abiding interest in the arts. He has enjoyed writing since a young age and currently produces articles for a number of online publications. He keeps a blog called The End of Fiction, consisting of his poetry, prose and other creative work, and is currently looking to forge a new career in the creative industries.