Context
"As creator I am looking for an experience , as one might enter into a film narrative . I am a portrait photographer because for me a particular face represents to varying degrees, an opportunity to express something personal and yet potentially universal..read more”
Daniel Murtagh, lives in Manhattan’s East Village, and spends much of his time in Berlin, Germany. He has worked on assignments for magazines such as Soma, Splash, and Hippocrates. His work has appeared in Elle, Shots, American Photographer, Photo Icon and Vestal. His images have appeared on over 150 book covers. In 2013 he exhibited in the Month of Photography show in Denver, Colorado, and was on board as one of its curators in 2015. His solo exhibition Vigil took place at Wild Project Gallery, NYC, in 2018.
Daniel’s work has been shown in Arcadia Contemporay in New York. He is currently represented by the Cabinet des Curieux Gallery, Paris. Most recently Daniel had a solo exhibit and University discussion at Mansarda Gallery, Timisoara, Romania, 2022. Currently showing in Brescia, Italy through November, 2024.
CONTACT
+1 312 388 3969
A portrait should offer a window to a kind of personal logic, where the familiar blends dreamlike with the expressive and sometimes surreal possibilities of the psyche. Or form a symbol or archetype through which something spiritual can be defined, thought out, or expressed. The emotions expressed speak to the sensuality born of being completely present, sensuality as a state of consciousness. My attempt is to reveal something embedded in every person, the desire for a place of solitude, awakening or connection to the divine which in its way is eternal in its essence. It is an ideal which attempts to bring the veiwer closer to their own humanity. I work in the romantic tradition which, in a cynical era may be considered a bit dated. Yet I see that the world hungers for what has been sidelined by art that claims to be a reflection of current society in all its complexity and modern dramas.The relevancy of beauty lies in possibilities that reach far beyond aesthetic or culture. The ideal moments of truth and beauty are not really the purpose solely of art but of a creative approach to life. To extend ones ideas, and Virtues to refine them, to generate what one hopes might be mirrored back.This is a kind of devotion.
This perspective is our birthright, our origin. What Robert Johnson referred to as "The golden world". There is a dignity which can be achieved through the process of making a portrait. Mankind does not need to be elevated , But merely seen fully. openly. In this way I am making a place to express what i see in the sitter. This place in its way, is formed from a desire to express my own veiw, through the choices I make via lighting and atmosphere. which are drawn from the influences of painting, cinema, and music. Influences which serve as guides or personas . Just as one would in a theater. This is the human drama framed with an ideal. Beauty is not merely form. Beauty is realization, it is evolution, it is spirit. It is a consolation and worthy aspiration. Beauty in a portrait is not the ultimate message, it is the messenger.