Daydreaming with Hayley Murphy

Q: Where do you live?
Originally from Lowell, MI and residing in Chicago for 12 years. I currently live in Venice, CA.

Q: Why photography?
I knew I was good at art and picked photography out of the college catalog. There were so many options after you learned how to do it that I felt like I wouldn’t have to make up my mind which way to go with it right away. That way I could discover what I was naturally drawn to organically.

Q: Can you tell us about your working process?
I daydream. When I see an image in my mind that I think would look good as a photo, I re-create it.

Q: Your first camera?
Pentax K1000

Q: What kind of camera do you use?
I use a lot of different cameras because I like to have all the tools at my disposal. I own a Canon 5D, Canon AE1 Program, and a Canon G11.

Q: Are you self-taught or a college graduate?
I’m a college grad. First I went to school at a community college in Grand Rapids, MI and then to Western Michigan to study interior design. Perspective drawing really blew my mind (in a bad way) and I got out of it. I really wanted to graduate from college and found myself wanting to go to Columbia College. LOL- someone at a rave told me I should go there:-) So I did. That’s when I picked photography out of the college catalog.

Q: You have a bold control of colour in your work, how did this evolve?
I remember wanting to get into interior design because I wanted to put colors and textures together. Interior design students study a lot of color theory, maybe it evolved from there. I also remember finding a color book in a warehouse I used to hang out at. It’s always interested me, not only which colors go together but also how they make you feel. I just naturally love making sure everything goes together, that it’s pleasing to the eye, or that it’s purposefully not pleasing. I notice it.

Q: Where do you get you inspiration?
The everyday. I have an active imagination. Anything can set me off. Pain, weirdness, animals, people who stand out, colors, peeling paint, rust, stores that only sell stuffed animal tigers, metal detector people, space aliens, elaborately decorated food, ultimate artists, environments that make my insides hurt or feel good, people having intense emotions in front of me.

Q: A few of your favourite photographers, dead or alive?
Eugene Atget, Man Ray, Helmut Newton, Joel Peter Witkin, Walker Evans, Hans Bellmer, Arnold Newman, Robert Frank, and Saverio Truglia

Q: Your goals?
Make pictures I love.

Q: How long does it take to do an average shoot?
Most of the time is in the planning. It really depends on what I need and what the budget is. Right now I’m looking to do a shoot with a goat in it and there is no budget. Trying to find a goat in Los Angeles for free is nearly impossible. Once everything comes together, it doesn’t usually take long. I set it up the way I see it, light it, and let go. If I try to stick to exactly what I see in my head,I could be disappointed, but if I let go and discover what’s there, it always turns out good. Lately I’ve been thinking about the memories that I have of the places that I envisioned before I ever saw them. For instance, when I thought about what it might look like to be in Jamaica before I had ever been there is a totally different memory then what I remember actually seeing when I got there. That’s off the subject, but isn’t it cool to think of all the places you’ve been that never existed.

Q: Travel?
Ever since I moved to Los Angeles, my travel bug has sort of gone away. I do get back to Chicago and Michigan quite often, with some trips to New York thrown in as well. When I first got into photography, I thought I was going to be a travel photographer. I’m not really into photographing people that aren’t up for it though, and when you’re shooting photo journalism style you’re just stealing the shot and explaining later. I like my subjects to be open to being photographed and know that I’m doing it.

Q: Do you have any assistants to help you source and put together some of your amazing backdrops?
Not really. Most everything I do comes from my subjects. I figured out that every person has access to at least one amazing and unique space so just a conversation with them usually opens the door to figuring out what it could be. Plus, I like finding the places myself. If I’m super busy though, I’ll get someone else to location scout. But I really like doing it myself.

Q: Do you make film?
I’m interested in it and make some personal movies of my friends for fun. Honestly, I think that the photograph is almost more important than film these days and I don’t want to spread myself in too many directions. People are so inundated with information that catching someone’s eye with a photograph seems just as important as keeping them there with a film. If I’m going to get distracted with another hobby, I like painting and junk collage a lot.

Q: Where do you get your models from?
I find them all over. I really don’t like using professional models. They’re so boring!! They have all these poses you’ve seen a million times before. My latest muse I found holding a possum outside of a gallery opening in Echo Park. A couple of weeks ago I went looking for a transvestite at a gay club in Hollywood. I guess I find my models by coincidence or by the idea of the image pointing me in a direction to go somewhere to look for them.

Q: Do you have any tips for young photographers wanting to get a break?
Don’t use credit cards. Find a photographer that you respect and hang out for a while. Don’t look at photography to get ideas about photography. Never give up, and when you do, never give up again later.

Q: 3 things that make you smile?
My sexy man’s humor, hair, and music http://www.myspace.com/detanglermusic, small, awesome rock shows at http://www.echocurio.com/, and chocolate ice cream.

Q: 3 things that make you cross?
Paying bills, people that aren’t authentic or have integrity, poop on my shoe.

Q: What are your passions, apart from photography of-course?
Art, coffee, writing, the ocean, love, oddities, relationships, camping, biking, hiking, tennis, walking, and keeping up the art house/studio I live in with others.

Q: Do you have any hidden talents we do not know about?
I can flip my eyelids inside out.

Wow! Thanks Hayley. Chippy and Richard

Coming next on ‘Coates and Scarry’ Jason Shawn Alexander.