Acclaim for photographer’s street portrait
The work of a photographer framing one of the most multicultural communities in Scotland has won acclaim in two prestigious world photography exhibitions.
Simon Murphy, from Glasgow, has spent 20 years documenting life in Govanhill on the south side of the city for an ongoing project capturing the changing face of the area. Now his photograph of a topless man eating an ice cream cone in a tenement doorway will be seen at two major metropolitan exhibitions in Melbourne and London.
His portrait, James, has been selected as a winning entry in the British Photography Journal’s Portrait of Humanity exhibition, and will be exhibited as one of 30 winning photographs from around the world at next month’s Being Human: Photo 2022 event in the Australian city.
Murphy captured the image on a summer’s day last year. He said: “I’ve been documenting portraits in the area for years now. I wander, I clear my head and see people who have something about them that I respond to.
“I saw James standing outside Ginesi’s cafe with his top off. I’d seen him around and asked if I could take his photograph before, but this day my enthusiasm must have persuaded him.
“There’s something about him that reminds me of an old movie star, something like Sylvester Stallone.”
Murphy’s work has been seen around Glasgow’s Victoria Road and features each year in the Govanhill Festival.
His portrait of James will also be part of the Sony World Photography Awards in London and Liverpool next month, before touring internationally.