The subject of the portrait looks down a the camera lens, which is below him. He is leaning on the handlebars of a black bike which is behind him. He wears grey tracksuit pants and navy runners, and has a white tshirt tucked into his waistband. His hands are clasped in front of him, and he has a tatoo on his chest. Around his neck he wears a scapular and a rosary neads. Above his head, we see a section of blue sky above the brick wall behind him. — Liam Murphy (b.1978), Stephen, 2018. © Liam Murphy.

Liam Murphy

Stephen, 2018

Photograph, 100 x 100 cm

‘This portrait of Stephen forms part of an ongoing body of work, Too Hot for Tops, a study of men who venture onto Dublin’s streets unselfconsciously bare-chested on a summer’s day. Shot on film, subjects are photographed where encountered and centrally framed. The interplay between the subject’s near-defiant pride and their subtle vulnerability is at the heart of this work.’

Liam Murphy is an Irish photographer living in Dublin. While his work is diverse, he focuses primarily on people, and is particularly drawn to the everyday outsider. Murphy’s practice is a pursuit of chance revelation. His approach to portraiture is most informed by that which a subject unwittingly imparts during a fleeting exchange. He holds a BA (Hons) in Communications from DIT. His commissions and personal projects see him work internationally.

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