to and fro I go
Photography by Jenn Murray

Welcome to
to and fro I go
"In the beginning there was no agenda to what I took a photograph of, I didn’t give it any thought.
But I did take them, I pointed the lens at something that caught my attention and I pressed the shutter button"
Fred Turns Blue Series
Couple kissing through wooden archway

West Spark Strike Series
The back of a man walking towards approaching subway


the group of surfers waiting by their van
Eliza's Stirring Stillness

older gentleman in white uniform working at butcher
Eliza's Stirring Stillness

man smoking by the vintage car
Eliza's Stirring Stillness

man sitting at his sunglasses stand at market
Eliza's Stirring Stillness

man hanging upside down
Eliza's Stirring Stillness

man slicing the meat sandwich at work
Eliza's Stirring Stillness

the man at pizzeria with older lady sitting in foreground
Eliza's Stirring Stillness

the couple kissing between two rugs
Eliza's Stirring Stillness

the barber shop
Eliza's Stirring Stillness

the woman in black at her paintings stall by beach
Eliza's Stirring Stillness

the older lady ordering at the greek food place
Eliza's Stirring Stillness

woman sitting alone on the beach
Eliza's Stirring Stillness

The back of a man walking towards approaching subway
West Spark Strike Series

Through the Taxi’s Window looking on to Time’s Square
West Spark Strike Series

Man playing trumpet on park bench
West Spark Strike Series

The Jewish family of four walking away
West Spark Strike Series

Marching band in yellow
West Spark Strike Series

The man beside his fish counter
West Spark Strike Series

The lady eating a sandwich through a window
West Spark Strike Series

Lady with sunglasses looking through wooden square
Fred Burns Blue Series

The man sleeping on a train
West Spark Strike Series

Two men walking through a tunnel
West Spark Strike Series

The man playing guitar in a market
West Spark Strike Series

Man at the market
West Spark Strike Series

Two men looking up a wall
Dusty Winter Whisper Series

Through the taxi window at night
Dusty Winter Whisper Series

A man walking down the street with a cowboy type hat
Dusty Winter Whisper Series

Two men wearing helmets by a motorbike
Dusty Winter Whisper Series

The yellow ladder in the Arcade
Dusty Winter Whisper Series

Man in raincoat entering a shop
Dusty Winter Whisper Series

Lady walking down street, her reflection in the window on the left
Dusty Winter Whisper Series

Bin man collecting leaves on the slope
Dusty Winter Whisper Series

Two men having a drink through a bar window
Dusty Winter Whisper Series

View of a building and its windows
Dusty Winter Whisper Series

Boy with umbrella in the rain
Fred Burns Blue Series

People standing and bending through glass wall
Fred Burns Blue Series

Two windows of a food van, one purple padlocked another open with lady and headscarf
Fred Burns Blue Series

Man with bike, one tracksuit leg rolled up
Fred Burns Blue Series

Man looking over his shoulder in the ice cream van
Fred Burns Blue Series

Book market, lady sitting, sipping soup
Fred Burns Blue Series

Couple kissing through wooden archway
Fred Burns Blue Series

Man asleep in the deck chair
Fred Burns Blue Series

Reflection in beer tap
Fred Burns Blue Series

John’s Mystic Meander 8
John's Mystic Meander

John’s Mystic Meander 6
John's Mystic Meander

John’s Mystic Meander 4
John's Mystic Meander

John’s Mystic Meander 3
John's Mystic Meander

John’s Mystic Meander 2
John's Mystic Meander

John’s Mystic Meander 1
John's Mystic Meander

Johns Mystic Meander 8
John's Mystic Meander

John’s Mystic Meander 5
John's Mystic Meander

Biography
I started to take photographs five years ago. I didn’t know how to use a camera properly. I still don’t. When people ask me about camera aperture, I panic. But I remember a photographer saying that a painter didn’t obsess over his paintbrush. This gave me comfort and confidence. In the beginning there was no agenda to what I took a photograph of, I didn’t give it any thought. But I did take them, I pointed the lens at something that caught my attention and I pressed the shutter button.
I remember walking into a small photographer’s shop in Powerscourt Shopping Centre when I lived in Dublin. He had a framed photograph leaning against a wall on the floor waiting to be hung. I stared at it. And then the next day I returned and stared at it again. It was the first time a photograph had made me question something inside of myself.
One day a friend of mine who is an artist was looking through the images on a small camera of mine. He said they were interesting and that perhaps I should take it more seriously. My focus had always been on other things but for some reason I listened.
I have lived and worked in many different cities, always moving back and forth. When you travel alone, you spend time looking up from your book and watching people. I went to an exhibition of Honoré Daumier and was inspired. He was fascinated by people doing the most normal, daily tasks. He made everyone distinctive, as they should be. In big cities you can feel lost in a crowd of faceless people. But I felt at home when I took a photograph of someone eating a sandwich on their lunch break or a family walking together down a street on a Sunday. It is the simple things that are beautiful to me.
After completing a photography course in the Victoria and Albert Museum London, I made a portfolio of my work. I approached a cafe in Belfast to see if they would be interested in displaying my photographs. They were. This led to me starting to sell my work. I didn’t expect that anyone would feel anything from looking at them. I felt something and that had been enough for me so this was a pleasant bonus. A lady from Chicago bought two from my West Strike Spark Series, she said when she looked at them she felt she was coming home. I don’t think I could have received a nicer compliment. Now I have had three exhibitions and I am preparing two more.


Contact me

Available for Exhibitions
If you are interested in my work please feel free to contact me by using the enquiry form