Studio Visit with West Murray

STUDIO VISIT WITH WEST MURRAY

#PASSIONS

Featuring West Murray

Photography by Shana Trajanoska

Photographer West Murray has lived and worked in the same Tribeca loft for over four decades. The sweeping space acts as her studio, gallery and houses her vast collection of vintage objets.

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MM: Have you always been a photographer?

WM: I have always been interested in the arts in one form or another. I was a stylist for different photographers for 30 years before I started taking photos myself 20 years ago.

Wall thats filled with pictures and drawer pressed against it

MM: Who or what has influenced your work?

WM: Diane Arbus, Lee Miller, Mary Ellen Mark, Annie Leibowitz, Cindy Sherman, Slim Aarons, and Letitia Battaglia just to name a few. Everything influences my work. The state of the world, art, food, fashion, and things people make with their hands.

"Everything influences my work. The state of the world, art, food, fashion, and things people make with their hands."

" I want people to see the beauty in things that they wouldn’t have noticed before."

The walls of West's quintessential New York loft showcase her fine art photography. West Murray is a great observer with a passion for collecting.

MM: How do you want people to feel when they see your work? And are you thinking about how people will perceive your work when creating it?

WM: I want people to see the beauty in things that they wouldn’t have noticed before. I do not think of anyone’s reactions to my work when shooting. I am too busy enjoying the moment I am in with the discoveries I am making for the first time.

MM: Your current state of mind?

Troubled with the state of the world.

Woman standing in the middle of the road

Girl with good legs

Jenny sitting September 1999

Sacha Big Bird
Images Courtesy West Murray

"These photographs display the individual human experience which I find to be profound. We are all in our own worlds, and I like to capture the magnitude of a moment as these 3 images do."

DISCOVER MORE ABOUT WEST MURRAY

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@theloftmuseum

RETURN TO ISSUE 2

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