Feeding Hay to a Dead Horse

NEW 2025 SIGNED MOUNTED PRINT LMITED AVAILABILITY

£60.00

2025! WTF just happened? Talk about shat on by Labour and potentially shoveled up by Reform.                                                                                                    During this mess 3 projects I shot last year were released, Warfare, The Long Walk and Ballerina. My work was featured prominently and even though the images were created months prior, the release campaigns take up more of my grey matter than you would imagine.   I did however have to keep a bit in the tank to begin preparations for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping and having photographed the entire franchise, it’s more of a homecoming for me but with the exciting addition of a new cast of max factors.  The further into the world of Panem we get the more it becomes a dystopian present rather than a dystopian future...

With that in mind, the added bonus to the end of 2025 is my exhibition at The Chair, Hay-On-Wye, where I’ll be displaying images from Withnail and I as well as The Shining, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter. I’ll be in attendance during the week (hopefully mostly sober) to personalise any images and bore you with stories which you can’t repeat.   And whilst we are at if you are adding to your collection or looking for a Christmas gift, this is probably as good a time as ever to give you all the exciting news that this years Christmas 10 x 8” is ‘Our Heroes Relax’ which has proved over the years to be one of the most popular.

There has never been a better time to start drinking, so here is to 2026. 

Chin Chin,

MC

WITHNAIL & OTHERS: A COLLECTION OF WORK BY MURRAY CLOSE

My days in Berlin back in the Panem salt mine are swiftly coming to an end and it's time to devote what little brain cells I have left to my exhibition at The Chair, Hay-on-Wye. 

It’s taken more time than I foresaw to select the images but I can now say I am finally happy with the curation. 

If you find yourself near Hay between 2–7 December 2025, please come by. We’ll have the prints on the walls, a few stories to tell, and — naturally — the finest cider known to humanity.

Chin Chin,

Murray

The Chair, 10 High Town, Hay-on-Wye, Hereford, HR3 5AE.  2 - 7 December 2025, Tue-Sat 11-5pm, Sun 11-2pm

Reception: December 6, 4pm 

Old Relics

Nearly 40 years on, it’s astonishing to me that these artefacts still surface.  Withnail was a mad undertaking built on call sheets, cold mornings, worn-out Jaguars, and rain that someone had to switch on.  It might look like an old bit of admin but it’s proof that all actually happened.  Chin Chin MC

No Boots to Cool

Danny and I suggest you go deep this weekend and wake up on Monday to face another shitty week.  Many thanks to Ralph Brown for going barefoot in Nottingham Hill…I wouldn’t have in 1986! #withnailphotos #withnailandi #ralphbrown #murrayclose

SOC AWARDS 2025

A few of Murray's photos were auctioned off for charity at the SOC Awards in Hollywood, February 2025. An exhibition of work 'Capturing the Spirit:  Evocative Moments On Screen' was exhibited with proceeds supporting the SOC’s commitment to The Vision Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.  

What is it? What have you found?

Many years ago on a street corner,  I took a wonderful shot of Paul and RG filling their lungs with rarified Chelsea air to get away from the oppressive heat in Monty’s house. The only thing that was missing (apart from the cat) was Withnail himself and lo and behold our guardian reading hero appeared to complete the trio…which was nice.   MC

Last Chance Saloon

Having the last signing session of 2024! The matted £60 Christmas Edition has sold out but there is still time to get one of these freshly minted beauties in time for Xmas if you get off your arse and order soon!  

Chin chin, MC

Shovelled Up

I am not unhappy to be limping out of 2024, whilst we are not being shat on by tories for a bit, the time is approaching to don our sou’westers to prepare for President Tango to empty his bowels over the planet.

In other news, it was back to Budapest in March to reunite with my Wick Squad to put ‘Ballerina’ back on her points. I can report that Ana de Armas is a delight and just as beautiful as you could imagine.

There was no time to go home for a costume change before I headed to Bovingdon UK to shoot with Alex Garland on ‘Warfare’, a 5 week whirlwind shoot all set in a cinder block house in Fallujah. With 2 handheld cameras, 2 boom operators and 16 actors fully loaded with military kit it was an oddly intimate experience.

It’s rare that I get to work alongside 3 of my favourite directors in a single year but after I wrapped with Chad Stahelski and Alex Garland, Francis Lawrence enticed me up to Winnipeg for a Stephen King project called ‘The Long Walk’ with another stellar cast of young actors.

Working and becoming friends with the new generation of actors such as Cailee Spaeny, Cooper Hoffman, Michael Gandolfini and Joe Quinn is the reason I still love my job after all these years, that and my appreciation for bad coffee. 

It seems incredible that this is the 5th year that we have produced our small mounted prints for Christmas, I wonder if anyone has the whole set? I thought this casual moment before Monty drives in with a couple of blues perfect. As usual, it is a very limited edition. 

Try not to get arrested. 

Chin chin,  

MC

R.G. v R.G

Richard Curtis asked me if the cast of #withnailandi still got on well when I joined him on #abouttimemovie. I replied “of course” and this was the result ! It was sadly the last time I photographed#richardgriffiths #oldvic #richardegrant

Location, location, location

My lovely pals, 1st AD,  Peter Kohn and 2nd AD, Kathy Sykes, were loitering with no intent outside the Int. Camden Flat set and I needed some stand-ins . No one thought these steps would have such legacy!   MC

1986 Vintage Negatives

It’s not very often that I take the Withnail original negs out of storage so it’s a special occasion today.   A client has requested a specific image that will now get scanned and printed and I get to wonder about the longevity of film emulsion given that I made these images in 1986.  I won’t be around in another  40 years to see if my digital images survive but I bet these Kodak Plus X negs will be… 

Time for a cheeky one,

Chin Chin. 

MC

Tabloid news....

We had to disappoint a number of Withnail punters this year as we sold out of this image as a mounted limited run so we decided to make it available as an 11 x 14” limited edition 100.  Please note that these won’t be available for dispatch until January 2024.   Chin chin, MC

Wine stains not included...

We’re getting to the end of another year which surprisingly wasn’t spent in Berlin but Budapest where I shot ‘Alien: Romulus’ for Scott Free Productions and was reunited with my pal Cailee Spaeny who you’ll starring in ‘Priscilla’ and ‘Civil War’ very soon. 

The spectre of Withnail loomed large this year and I got to photograph Richard E. for the poster of ‘Death of a Unicorn’ in Budapest. The last time I photographed his handsome chops was for Richard Curtis on ‘About Time’ and although we don’t see each that regularly the years melt away when catching up on who’s done what in Withnail World!

It turns out that we have been busy this year… Bruce has finished writing his theatrical production of ‘Withnail & I’ which should have its premiere next year in Birmingham.  Any casting suggestions?

Titan Books published Toby Benjamin’s Withnail and I book ‘From Cult to Classic’ which is the definitive account of the film and features interviews with all of us who haven’t shuffled off and allows me and my images to bask in the sun once again. 

The cover of the book is a black and white photograph of Iconic PhotoShoot #2 on the steps outside Withnail’s flat and I thought it quite decent so I have made it the Christmas small mounted print for 2023 with a very limited run.  (Wine stains not included!)

I hope you all survive another year, with all this worldwide devastation there’s little to stop us reaching for the gin before noon..

Chin chin,   MC

It's all in the name

With these bloody actors on strike I haven’t had many victims to photograph but I’ve finally had time to sort my Withnail archive out.  I realised that this piece of genius doesn’t have a title.  I’m looking for suggestions, if I pick your pathetic attempt you’ll receive an 11 x 14” print of it.  Results will be announced here on Sunday.  Feel free to add your suggestions in the comments below or on FB.  Cin cin, MC

***UPDATE***. The winner is Philip James with ‘Are You the Actor?’  We’ll be in touch to get a print sent out to you. 

Withnail goes to Edinburgh…

GALLERY CLOSE, EDINBURGH

MARCH 16-APRIL 16TH 2023

www.gallery-close.com

Excited to let you all know that I am having an exhibition of my Withnail Photographs at the Close Gallery in Edinburgh.  It’s not some dodgy insider job it’s a pure coincidence we share a surname.  There will be all of your black and white favourites and few deeper cuts. 

Portraits of Cinema

I had a fantastic weekend in Seattle giving an Artist talk at the Leica Store in Bellevue.  I always enjoy answering questions that people may have about my prior work and sharing some of the funnier moments.  It was a great turnout particularly considering it wasn’t raining and was a beautiful Autumn day.  There was only 1 person who was aware of Withnail so I had to do a quick overview which is hard without a glass of wine in your hand!  

                                                                           MC 

What a piece of work...

In January Alex Garland called me out of the blue and asked to meet. Now, this is filmmaker I have wanted to work with so it was a bloody good start to 2022. His project is about two photojournalists in a combat zone.   I got to give Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny a photographer’s insider tips and appeared as a grizzled war photographer alongside them, hopefully I’ll make the cut… 

My Hunger Games family reunited in June for ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ in Berlin with a new cast of players. As one of the very small group who worked on all of the movies it’s a very special assignment for me. 

But before departing my studio I discovered an image of Richard from the Hamlet scene in Regents Park. It’s never been published so I thought it would be in good taste to release it into the world as our festive offering. Hopefully it will provide some distraction from all the shit that keeps raining down!

They are not selling Boris wigs in Woolworths just yet so Chin Chin my dears.

MC

And the Winner is......

Sorry about the delay in announcing the competition winner but I had to go to New York by mistake and got snowed in.  I had the most marvellous time reading everyones suggestions and it was bloody hard to pick just one but here it is… Simon Whittle in a rare moment of sobriety came up with thIs beauty.  'A Weekend’s Indulgence' which will be known for ever more as the title of the photograph. It was a hoot doing this perhaps we’ll do another one in the future.  We’ll be in touch with Simon to get his address.  Chin Chin.  MC

Deep Dive into the Archive...

Having been invited to exhibit my Withnail images again, my hand was forced into a deep dive of the black and white negatives shot in 1986.

This entailed anchoring myself at a light box with a bottle or two for a few days with a 1960’s soundtrack. It’s been a while since the originals were taken out of the archive and it unlocked some great memories and unearthed some overlooked gems. 

Here’s a taster to enjoy, it’s untitled as yet, and I’ll be adding some additional photos to the website very soon.

Chin chin,

MC

Down & Out in Paris..

Sometimes it seems remarkable to me that I am here writing this missive again and there are still people at the other end of the internet line. Although, I am very probably more often than not in junk mail folders!

As luck would have it I am back with Keanu again and this time he is fighting his way to glory as Mr John Wick. My life has a curious way of repeating itself apparently…

For this year’s festive release I thought that I would print a greatest hit. It is one of my most popular images in the Withnail portfolio and it is signed, mounted and ready to drop into a standard 10x8” frame for those who are too cheap to get it custom framed!

I’ve only made 25 of these due to still being able to maintain gainful employment and being knackered after 19 weeks of night shooting.

Just thoughts as always.

MC