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Jan032012

MEMBER PROFILE // Matthew Murphy's Photography Channels The Essence of Dance

Jan 3, 2012

Dancer: Kiira Schmidt photographed for Broadway.com's Gotta Dance!, styled by David Withrow, Hair and Makeup by Ariel Vega. Photographed at 3rd Ward.

It's not surprising that Matthew Murphy creates amazing dance photography. He's graced the same stages as the dancers that he now captures with his lens, and he's exercised the same extraordinary dedication and drive that made him a great dancer to become an equally virtuosic photographer.

"I spent my entire adolescence training to become a professional ballet dancer," Murphy says. At 17 that devotion paid off when he became a member of the American Ballet Theatre, one of the world's leading ballet companies. A few years later illness forced him to retire from dancing, but he soon picked up a DSLR and found a complementary passion. "The similarities between art forms were apparent to me from the start," he says. "They are both about exploring space and people through movement and light. My work as a photographer focuses a lot on identity and movement, whether physical or emotional."

He may be behind the camera rather than at the barre, but Murphy still approaches his work with the heart and mind of a dancer. "I find the art of working with a portrait subject to be much like a pas de deux, where trust is more important than anything," he says. "Whomever I'm photographing has to be willing to take my hand and let me lead them. Likewise, I have to listen to their impulses because I may find that their energy leads me to a more exciting breakthrough."

Hit the jump to read more about Murphy and check out some of his excellent work.

When Murphy first joined 3rd Ward he was worried that commuting from the Upper East Side would be draining, but he's found that trek is worth it. "3rd Ward has been an amazing setting for me to expand my style," he says. "I always find myself energized to take the train out in the mornings and find new ways to use the space." He's spent time in all of the photo studios, but you'll likely find him in Studio B. "It's the most malleable for the type of work I do," he explains. "One day I'll open up the blackout curtains and let the natural light shine in for headshots, only to close them off the following day for a shoot with a dance company." 3rd Ward has also inspired Murphy to experiment and explore. "The reasonable price point of a membership has allowed me to feel more adventurous when it comes to trying new things," he says. "I've really been able to expand my work to not only include environmental portraiture but studio work as well, which is extremely valuable when creating press materials for different theater and dance companies."

DISPLACED, an exhibition of Murphy's work featuring "a series of 32 portraits that explores what happens to a dancer when you take away virtuosic movement," is on display through December 30 at Dance New Amsterdam. He also recently started Gotta Dance!, a new portrait series for Broadway.com that features dancers styled and dressed in outfits inspired by the current show that they are in.

To kick off 2012 he'll be starting another portrait project, a "series of diptychs exploring the emphasis the ballet world places on physical perfection," and continuing his work on evening-length multimedia musical 35MM, a collaboration with composer Ryan Scott Oliver. "He has created songs inspired my images of mine, and I have created images based on songs of his," Murphy says. The two are more than half way to their Kickstarter goal to fund a cast recording and a live production in March. Help out and you can score everything from a digital download of the recording to first amateur licensing rights to put on your own production.

Check out some of Murphy's photographs below and head to his website and Facebook page for more.

Dancers: Lana Jones and Amber Scott of The Australian Ballet, photographed at Lincoln Center.