Peter Murphy


Over the years I've experimented with different kinds of visual poetry - and have not really abandoned any of them. Broadly, beginning in the early Seventies, I moved from visual poetry involving a strong sense of pattern and archetypal signs to photography concerned with signs and language objects of various kinds.

I've been photographing arrow signs for decades because of their visually dramatic nature and because of the way they highlight our consciousness as killers / carnivores. The abstract representation of an arrowhead fascinates me because of what it reveals about our species and because it is emblematic of the violent nature of life.

In my photographs I record other kinds of sign-making in addition to arrows. I'm interested in what these often bizarre objects of communication reveal about us. I believe they need to be set aside and investigated visually, if we are to see our world, and ourselves.

- Peter Murphy


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