This show is dedicated in loving memory to my mother Doris Jean Murtagh.
I have named this exhibition ‘Vigil’, the quality of holding someone, even if only in the mind. This show was created in New York and Berlin and explores our ever present need for access to the soul in the way that it desires to be recognized and unearthed, and the underlying mystery to the dimension of solitude I draw from cinema as well as turn of the century Dutch painting i.e., Vermeer and Rembrandt. ‘Vigil’ works to to reclaim Romanticism. Not the ideal in the context of a historical period, but to reclaim it for the time in which we live. This is rooted in my conviction that beauty should be protected, defended, and recognized for its eternal and spiritual depth, which cannot be limited by time.
Bio:
Daniel Murtagh has been working as a portrait photographer since 1995. Upon graduating from Pratt Institute he moved to New Mexico and later to San Francisco, where he spent the next eight years defining a style of work that continues to evolve. His photographs have been featured in Soma, San Francisco, Health, Splash, Men’s Health, Hippocrates, Elle, Shots, American Photographer, and Photo Icon. His images have appeared on over 100 book covers Internationally. Daniel has shown his work in galleries, nationally and internationally. In addition to photography, he works in film and sound and has made six films, among which The Last Judgement which was shown at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg Russia. Daniel also created the score for a feature film ‘Victoriana” and in 2015 released ‘Backward Sun – Eclipse” (available on Spotify and iTunes) In 2010, Daniel first traveled to Berlin where he has photographed extensively since.