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Gypsy Fairs

Spencer Murphy

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Spencer Murphy

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Spencer's latest personal series.
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Spencer’s ongoing photo essay documenting the evolving visual landscape during COVID-19 and lockdown.
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A beautiful new personal series photographing Anna and Giselle in their home together.
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Spencer shot the artwork for British pop band Skinny Living's next EP No Messiah.
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National Theatre
Spencer was commissioned by The National Theatre to photograph the campaign for the upcoming play Death Of England.
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@mrspencermurphy

@mrspencermurphy

Last couple I’ll share...
Sim and makeshift weight, from the series Wood Work, 2020
Link in bio. Fitness was an ever-present subject in the public discourse surrounding lockdown. Given the sudden emphasis on wellness and illness, and with exercise the only legitimate excuse to leave the house, British people suddenly seemed more concerned with getting in shape than ever before. Rumour has it that a tradesman from Belarus – some say a carpenter, others a welder – took it on himself to build an outdoor gym from things he found in the woodlands of Hackney Marshes, including logs repurposed as weights and scraps of discarded material to shape them into barbells and dumbbells. With other public fitness apparatus in the park cordoned off, his gym quickly became a popular communal space. With gyms set to re-open this weekend, the future of this makeshift weight room is uncertain. Perhaps next time someone breaks a weight it won’t get repaired, and eventually this place will go back to being a quiet woodland glade. But it’s also easy to imagine what has happened here in recent weeks creating ripples that will echo long after this woodsman’s work has been reclaimed by the forest.
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#portrait #photography #documentary #spencermurphy #fitness #hackneymarshes #gym #gymlife #muscle #weightlifting #outdoors #nature #gains #covid19 #lockdown #training #tattoo

@mrspencermurphy

Mateusz, from the series Wood Work, 2020
@mateusz.tyszkiewicz92
Link in bio.
Fitness was an ever-present subject in the public discourse surrounding lockdown. Given the sudden emphasis on wellness and illness, and with exercise the only legitimate excuse to leave the house, British people suddenly seemed more concerned with getting in shape than ever before. Rumour has it that a tradesman from Belarus – some say a carpenter, others a welder – took it on himself to build an outdoor gym from things he found in the woodlands of Hackney Marshes, including logs repurposed as weights and scraps of discarded material to shape them into barbells and dumbbells. With other public fitness apparatus in the park cordoned off, his gym quickly became a popular communal space. With gyms set to re-open this weekend, the future of this makeshift weight room is uncertain. Perhaps next time someone breaks a weight it won’t get repaired, and eventually this place will go back to being a quiet woodland glade. But it’s also easy to imagine what has happened here in recent weeks creating ripples that will echo long after this woodsman’s work has been reclaimed by the forest.
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#portrait #photography #documentary #spencermurphy #fitness #hackneymarshes #gym #gymlife #muscle #weightlifting #outdoors #nature #gains #covid19 #lockdown #training #tattoo

@mrspencermurphy

Mateusz, from the series Wood Work, 2020
@mateusz.tyszkiewicz92
Fitness was an ever-present subject in the public discourse surrounding lockdown. Given the sudden emphasis on wellness and illness, and with exercise the only legitimate excuse to leave the house, British people suddenly seemed more concerned with getting in shape than ever before. Rumour has it that a tradesman from Belarus – some say a carpenter, others a welder – took it on himself to build an outdoor gym from things he found in the woodlands of Hackney Marshes, including logs repurposed as weights and scraps of discarded material to shape them into barbells and dumbbells. With other public fitness apparatus in the park cordoned off, his gym quickly became a popular communal space. With gyms set to re-open this weekend, the future of this makeshift weight room is uncertain. Perhaps next time someone breaks a weight it won’t get repaired, and eventually this place will go back to being a quiet woodland glade. But it’s also easy to imagine what has happened here in recent weeks creating ripples that will echo long after this woodsman’s work has been reclaimed by the forest.
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.
#portrait #photography #documentary #spencermurphy #fitness #hackneymarshes #gym #gymlife #muscle #weightlifting #outdoors #nature #gains #covid19 #lockdown #training #tattoo

@mrspencermurphy

Pain Is Life, from the series Wood Work, 2020 Fitness was an ever-present subject in the public discourse surrounding lockdown. Given the sudden emphasis on wellness and illness, and with exercise the only legitimate excuse to leave the house, British people suddenly seemed more concerned with getting in shape than ever before. Rumour has it that a tradesman from Belarus – some say a carpenter, others a welder – took it on himself to build an outdoor gym from things he found in the woodlands of Hackney Marshes, including logs repurposed as weights and scraps of discarded material to shape them into barbells and dumbbells. With other public fitness apparatus in the park cordoned off, his gym quickly became a popular communal space. With gyms set to re-open this weekend, the future of this makeshift weight room is uncertain. Perhaps next time someone breaks a weight it won’t get repaired, and eventually this place will go back to being a quiet woodland glade. But it’s also easy to imagine what has happened here in recent weeks creating ripples that will echo long after this woodsman’s work has been reclaimed by the forest.
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.
.
.
#portrait #photography #documentary #spencermurphy #fitness #hackneymarshes #gym #gymlife #muscle #weightlifting #outdoors #nature #gains #covid19 #lockdown #training #tattoo

@mrspencermurphy

Woodland Weights#1, 2020
With gyms in the UK re-opening this weekend I thought I’d share a new series I’ve been working on.
Link in bio...
Wood Work:
Whilst documenting life during lockdown, there were a few sub plots that emerged. A theme that seemed to be at the forefront of public discourse, after it was announced, was fitness. Being as it was the only excuse to leave the house and people found themselves with a lot more time on their hands (and perhaps the ominous presence of an approaching pandemic), the nation suddenly seemed more concerned with getting in shape than ever before and innovative ways of doing so.
Rumour has it a tradesman (carpenter or welder, depending on who I talked to) from Belarus took it upon himself to build an outdoor public gym from things he found around the woodlands of Hackney Marshes; repurposed logs and old scraps of material, when the other park apparatus were cordoned off. It quickly became a communal space for those brave enough to share a barbell in gloved, sanitised hands. As gyms are set to re-open this weekend the future of this makeshift weight room is uncertain. Perhaps the next time kids come and break a weight, it won’t get repaired and it will once again become some quiet forgotten woodland glade. Perhaps the birds and the squirrels will remember?
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#portrait #photography #documentary #spencermurphy #fitness #hackneymarshes #gym #gymlife #muscle #weightlifting #outdoors #nature #gains #covid19 #lockdown #training

@mrspencermurphy