‘Flower girl’ from the series Govanhill
He began his career working for magazines, shooting well-known figures from John Hurt to the Dalai Lama.
Award-winning photographer Simon Murphy applies the same basic rules to making portraits in a Glasgow community for his long-running series Govanhill. The common denominator? Trust.
The project spans two decades and has already earned greater Murphy recognition – he was a winner in the 2022 Portrait of Britain Awards and in 2019 received the Richard Coward Scottish Portrait Award in Photography.
As images from the project are exhibited at Street Level Photoworks in Glasgow, Murphy explains his fascination with the district he called home – a gateway for migrants and refugees for centuries.
‘Emil’ from the series Govanhill
Describe yourself as a photographer.
I’m a photographer whose primary interest is people.
So, you’re inspired by people?
When I was discovering photography – images by maybe David Bailey and Richard Avedon – it was always shots of people that drew me in. You imagine what it would be like to speak to those people, have a conversation and interact with them.
You have photographed communities in locations including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cambodia and Rwanda. What inspired you to focus on the Glasgow community of Govanhill for your long-running series of the same name?
At college I was living in Govanhill on the southside of Glasgow and so a lot of my projects were based there because it was convenient. I’d be asked to photograph a portrait and so I’d photograph something within the area.
When I left college, I became an editorial photographer. My main job was with The Herald Magazine, which was amazing, but the newspaper industry was looking pretty shaky. I had my first daughter coming along and I started to get a little nervous, so I went into teaching. I loved it, but there was this hunger to make.
I needed a project that was close by, and it dawned on me that Govanhill was the place. When I was photographing it back as a student it wasn’t really a project, it was just convenient, but the experiences of travelling to different countries – places like the Congo and Bangladesh – really opened me up to culture. It changed my world and shaped me as a person.
When there wasn’t as much opportunity to travel, I realised all those experiences were there on my doorstep because Govanhill was so diverse an area with so many different cultures. It made sense to start the project from that point.
‘Elizabeth’ from the series Govanhill
Govanhill is Scotland’s most ethnically diverse neighbourhood – around 40% of residents are from ethnic minorities. Is that what inspired you as a photographer?
100%. Govanhill is so diverse, and it’s a small area of around mile squared. Up to 80 languages are spoken within that small area, so in many ways it’s a microcosm. Govanhill has always been a point of arrival for people coming to Scotland. Now you have Romanian people, Polish people, all sorts of nationalities, and that constant change is exciting.
Images from Govanhill are to be exhibited at Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, and published in your first book. How did you select which portraits to include?
I chose the strongest ones. I know that sounds obvious, but sometimes you don’t know the strongest images until you live with them for a while. All I’m doing is photographing people I find interesting. Naturally, because of where I’m photographing, I’m going to get a series of images that features many different nationalities, but that’s not the reason for selecting them. I’m just selecting the strongest expressions, or the ones that intrigue or move me the most.
Is there a portrait that is special to you?
The project isn’t really about individuals, it’s about a place, so collectively the images form a portrait of Govanhill. That said, there is a picture of a girl called Paisley whose photograph for me sums up the character of the place – quietly defiant, strong, super cool. These are all words associated with Govanhill.
‘Paisley’ from the series Govanhill
How do you gain the trust of your subjects?
You’ve got to be honest with people. When you have good reasons for doing something, that honesty and openness comes across. I always ask myself the question, "What is it that’s drawn me to this person?" And I tell them exactly what it is.
Another great way is to show them the type of photographs I do. That’s where I find Instagram helpful, or just my phone with a gallery of pictures. When I show people what to do they understand I’m not trying to show anyone in a bad light.
Your portraits have included high profile figures such as John Hurt, Noel Gallagher and the Dalai Lama. Do you take a different approach to photographing celebrities than people in the community?
I’m trying to get an honest portrait of whoever I photograph, but I do want them to look good. It gets a little more difficult with well-known people, because sometimes their time is much shorter, or they have an entourage or a PR person who might not get what I’m doing. That’s a negotiation I don’t have to have with people in the street.
You try and find common ground and that starts with questions. I try to photograph everybody the same way, but each person, famous or not, brings certain negotiations.
‘Kevin’ from the series Govanhill
What do you hope the exhibition Govanhill will achieve?
My [exhibition] portraits are pictures of people looking straight at the viewer, not me anymore, because it’s in the gallery setting. I hope that the message is, “Just look into my eyes. Maybe on the surface I’m a little bit different to you, but maybe we’ve got an awful lot more in common.”
I don’t want to preach to anyone – it’s not political. I just want the eye contact and maybe to trigger questions in people’s minds that might make them think there’s more out there, outside my bubble. Let’s embrace it.
‘Sahar’ from the series Govanhill
All images by Simon Murphy. The exhibition Govanhill is at Street Level Photoworks, 14 October to 23 December 2023. A book of the same name is published by Gomma Books.
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