Seamus Murphy
Seamus Murphy began photographing Afghanistan in 1994, and his new book A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan, is a classic on the rise of the Taliban and...
Read more ›The Words That Maketh Murder
on 26 November 2011Over the next twelve days we will be featuring a new music video
featuring PJ Harvey by Seamus Murphy daily. The accompanying text
by Seamus will give an insight into his thoughts about making the
videos. ENJOY!
The song itself is such a riot of imagery, energy and beat that
the film cascaded into existence. I liked going from studio
soundtrack to acoustic audio and back, the contrast emphasising the
different qualities of each. I wanted to begin with a driving motif
to introduce this as a road journey through England - the hand I
shot on the steering wheel is mine. The balls of light are from
oncoming car headlights on a motorway outside Manchester. I became
mesmerised shooting the patterns produced by throwing the lens out
of focus, ending up miles beyond my exit. The young men in sharp
uniforms grooming a colleague are marine cadets from Bristol
preparing for the funeral at Wootton Bassett of a soldier killed in
Afghanistan. The ballroom scene is from The Blackpool Tower very
late in the season, had I come a day or two later I would have
missed it entirely. The idea of marrying this imagery to lyrics
detailing the gristly horror of war came from its jaunty
hand-clapping backbeat. The couples are dancing to a bygone classic
played on a Wurlitzer with expert majesty by the resident
organist.
PJ Harvey Web Site
England Photo Essay by Seamus Murphy