Friday, January 18, 2008

MURPHY`S LAW

 MURPHY`S OUTLOOK
Today I am happy to introduce a Guest Blogger.
I call her "Murphy", only because I was embarrassed to ask how she pronounced her name.
Her images are linked in the slide show. You can click on any of those images to get to her extensive photo stream.
I think you will appreciate her eye for images. Here she is.
Tell your friends.
My name is Murphy Funkhouser. I call myself an actress, comedienne and a playwright and amateur
photographer. I liken myself to a newborn shutterbug. "Photographic Larvae", I oft say in jest.

I met Tony on Flickr. I can't remember how his photographs came to flash before me. But, I sensed a kindred spirit in his pixels.
I knew the eye behind the lens had similar purpose in the moments it captured. Just a hunch. Turns out, I was
right. We enjoy each others work daily and I was honored when he asked me to be a guest on his blog.

Photography is really not a passion, a hobby or even a side project for me. I discovered it about a year ago as a life tactic ;
a means to by-pass the survival mode. I live in one the most beautiful places on earth, Breckenridge, Colorado.
And, tragically, I rarely absorb it. Like a plant that only takes in trickles of water but, desperately needs more,
I live my life in a state of over-commitment and under-connection. There are days I go to bed and am unsure if 24 hours or
3 months has passed since I woke up that morning. I am on some sort of self-imposed mission to take over the world…
at least the world within my reality bubble. I often find myself living like a latte fueled machine, racing to work, to meetings,
to pick up my daughter, to perform, to write. Even writing is no longer the pleasure it once was.
But something I must schedule into an agenda. I knew something had to change.
I no longer had time for yoga, or meditation, or sleeping. Photography was the next logical choice.
(Continued in the first comment)

15 comments:

Knucklehead said...

On the crazy hamster wheel in which I spin, I keep my camera tucked under one paw.
That way, I force myself to squeal… on the brakes, pull over, STOP and look out the bars.
For even a second. My method of smelling the roses, so to speak.
Often, snapping a picture is the only time I allow myself to breathe within a day.
It is amazing the things you see…when you just stop.

My favorite story is the day I was rushing out of my office to a lunch meeting.
I was on the cell phone (imagine that) papers swirling around me and, of course, I dropped my purse in the snow.
Cursing the purse gods, or whoever I could pin my misfortune on at that moment,
I scrambled to gather the rolling lipstick, the car keys, the cigarettes…and there right before me, in the snow?
I love you. With a gloved finger, someone had taken the time to write, I love you. I knew it wasn't for me.
But, still it made me stop. I left my purse there in the snow, hung up my phone call and went to grab my camera out of the car.
And I relished the moment. I took time, walked around the message trying to find the perfect angle, gather the proper light…
so I could share that moment with others. I wondered who it had been written for.
I wished someone would write something like that for me. I thought, for a moment, maybe if I stopped running long enough,
someone could write it with the confidence I might actually see it.

Thanks for stopping by to see my moments. Maybe they helped you stop the wheel for a second…and have a moment yourself.

Be well…and here's to more moments for us all.

Knucklehead said...

The first comment is all Murphy, as well as the header shot that I modified. You may want to see her original image at her place, it`s very good. A floating, or a levitated chrome jewel it is.
The main post is also all Murphy but I put them on one page.

Nancy P said...

Hi, Murphy. This will be great fun to get to see your world through your eye-lens and lens-lens. I love the fire in the sky, and fifi, and the world at your daughter's level.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Nancy. Those are some of my favorites too. All 3 you named were chance moments I was grateful to be privvy to.

Unknown said...

I toured the whole "kit and kaboodle" over at murhpy's flicker site.

Lots of spectacular landscape shots, and many very impressive human portraits.


Thanks for the tour of your photographic perspective, Murphy!

And thanks to KH for bringing us together.

AndiF said...

Thanks Murphy for sharing your photos and thoughts with us. And thanks Head for introducing us to another person with a fine eye and mind.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, ndd and andif. I am honored to be on here and happy to be introduced to you too.

olivia said...

Hi Murphy ... I'm the oliviainottawa over at flickr who commented on your stream ... :)

I love your photography ... and reading your words has made it that much more meaningful. Thanks for sharing with us!

Family Man said...

Hi Murphy and Head.

Murphy you have some wonderful pictures. I haven't gone through them all yet, but I really like the "Morning Has Broken" picture. I really like how the color seems to be encroaching into the black and white.

Thanks to Head for introducing you to us and thank you for sharing your wonderful pictures and thoughts with us.

Knucklehead said...

Nancy P,
I`m glad you checked out Murphy`s Law.
She has an approach to photography that drew me to anticipate eagerly, the next ones she`d post.

Knucklehead said...

Hey NDD,
Glad you liked the guest here.
Her photography reminded me of the likes of the gang that visit here.

Knucklehead said...

Andif,
You`re very welcome, especially in view of the "fine eye & mind" you also have.

Knucklehead said...

Olivia,
I read that as the "olivinator" for some reason.

Knucklehead said...

Hi FM,
Nice seeing you again.
Glad you like Murphy`s stuff.

Murphy Funkhouser said...

Thanks familyman and olivia.
Olivia...good to see you on here too! :)