Owen Murphy Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1948 -

A New Orleans native, Owen Murphy, Jr., established his standing as one of the city’s most respected documentary photographers with his portrayal of Louisiana Creole culture. Murphy’s expressive portraits of New Orleans Creoles and depictions of their homes, festivals, workplaces, and neighborhoods are showcased in Creoles of New Orleans: People of Color, published in 1987, with a narrative by Leila Hay Owen. His photographs of Creoles have been shown in many exhibits, including Profiles of a Culture: Louisiana’s Creoles at Jean Laffite National Park and Preserve in Thibodaux, Louisiana; All Saints Day in Lacombe at the International House Hotel in New Orleans; and Louisiana Creoles of Color at the Lafayette Natural History Museum.

Owen Murphy embarked on his photographic career in 1971 (one year after he acquired his first camera), when he sold his first photograph to Rolling Stone magazine. Since that time, he has built a diverse commercial practice, often emphasizing New Orleans musical traditions, while pursuing non-commercial “self-assignments” for personal and artistic reasons. Murphy’s portfolio includes commissioned portraits of such celebrated musicians as Allen Toussaint, Fats Domino, Keith Richards, Bonnie Raitt, and Art Neville, as well as writers Rodger Kamenetz and Moira Crone. During the past four decades, Murphy has been engaged in numerous public activities of the New Orleans photography scene, as both a participant and organizer.

Murphy, who was born September 9, 1948, to Owen and Elsa Perdomo Murphy, was one of a number of photographers who came of age in New Orleans during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some were natives of the city, others came from elsewhere: Matt Anderson, Luis Castrillo, Sandra Russell Clark, Barry Kaiser, Jack Pickett, Josephine Sacabo, Louis Sahuc, and Michael P. Smith were part of this community. Murphy — who worked initially in black-and-white, 35-mm photography executed in a documentary or journalistic style — found kinship in this group of photographers.