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. MCIt'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, EDINBURGHMARCH 16-APRIL 16TH 2023www.gallery-close.comExcited 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. 
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.MCAnd 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. MCDeep 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,MCBrave New World
I’ve done a few interviews of late, I guess online rags have got some time on their hands, and the most common thing that they want to know is how my work has changed since moving from film to digital.This has pressured me into analysing my work process which I loathe doing but the truth is that the digital world has transformed my shooting process and not always for the best.Whilst the new world has placed control of my imagery back into my hands allowing me to delete, colour treat and effectively becoming the laboratory, it has taken away some of the purity. Cartier-Bresson’s ‘Decisive Moment’ has been eroded I fear.Withnail is a good example as I still have the original negatives and know that I shot about 1600 black and white images over the course of the filming days I covered. To give this some perspective, on ‘The Matrix 4’ which I recently completed I was submitting between 600/1000 images per day. The two films are entirely different of course, one had a budget of $200 million and the other was a bowl of rice and a bag of nuts but in some ways maybe when working with film we were more focused knowing we didn’t have an unlimited supply of ones and zeros to fall back on.I managed to capture the essence of the ‘Tea Room’ scene in 45 frames, lord only knows how many I would rack up today. Just thoughts as always…Pre-order Iconic Photoshoot #1
I am currently printing and have just released Iconic Photoshoot # 1 as a limited edition 11 x 14” print. Edition 1/100 is available so get in quick if you want the first one. The 11 x 14” prints are £150 and available in the Shop now. Cheers!
2020 in the rear-view mirror..
What a bloody year! It’s difficult to know where to start as we’ve all got our own stories, highs, lows and in between.
I began the year innocently, as we all did, in San Francisco on ‘The Matrix’ with Lana Wachowski at the helm and I have to say that I would never have put a shilling or two on shooting Neo and Trinity at this point in my career. To say it has been a remarkable experience would not do justice to any of the creatives involved but you can make your own minds up next December.
After the US we travelled to Germany in March to continue production at Babelsberg Studios but then the pesky pandemic kicked and I was sequestered in Berlin which turned out to be piece of good fortune for me except for the fact that my cameras were locked down at the studio for 4 months but my chums at Leica DE took pity on me and loaned me some cameras to keep me quiet.
I’m writing this with the impending chaos of carnets and packing ahead before a return home to, hopefully, a better 2021, and have printed 25 prints in 5x7” size of a lovely personal moment of the boys between takes in Regents’ Park mounted and signed and ready to drop into an 8x10” frame. For no particular reason I’m offering them at £45 including shipping which, for those paying attention, is cheaper than last year!
Blessed are the vaccine makers.
Chin chinMurray
Unexpected fan
An actor pal of mine sent me this article from a while back which I was surprised and happy to read. It still surprises me the way Withnail & I touches people’s hearts. MC
https://www.redonline.co.uk/reviews/what-to-watch-tonight/a516310/jack-whitehall-my-favourite-thing/
I & Withnail
I’m excited to announce that I am finally able to offer the 30 x 40” pieces from Iconic Photoshoot #1 & #2 again. These 2 contact sheets show the famous images together with the less well known ones and are great examples of how the synchronicity of the actors and myself achieved the final results. Shot at Uncle Monty’s cottage and outside of the boy’s flat during gaps in filming, the exterior flat location on Chepstow Villas was never featured in the film but has become a Withnail shrine due to this photo shoot.
These Giclee prints will be made in collaboration with master printer, Francois Le Blond. I withdrew these images from the portfolio some time ago because I couldn’t find a printer that I had confidence in to print in this large format. We made some trial prints last week and the results were stunning. These images are truly statement pieces.
Breaking News! Bruce comes out of isolation....
My spirits soared this week when I read that Esquire UK are hosting a Bruce Robinson live commentary of a screening of ‘Withnail and I’ on May 17 at 7pm BST followed by a Q&A. This is truly ‘one off’ event and I urge anyone who has the slightest interest in this tired old film to join in. I’ll be getting a few ales in and hopefully remain sober enough to remember I watched it.It’s not as if you have much else to do..Chin Chin!**UPDATE**Video below
Unearthing Gems....
I spent a rainy weekend finally beginning to archive my past work and of course started with Withnail, Kubrick can wait…I don’t enjoy revisiting my old work but sometimes a forgotten image or moment can transport you directly back to the moment the exposure was made. A number of unseen Withnail images came to light and I thought I would share this shot of a final rehearsal of one of the two scenes we filmed in Regent’s Park. I don’t remember specifically whether Richard was ad libbing or even quoting from the script at all but whatever he said caused Paul to break character and giggle. For a limited time only we are offering this exclusive unseen image of 'Withnail & I' in my online shop presented in a soft white acid free mount and signed by me all ready to drop into a standard 10 x 8” frame plus free UK delivery making it the perfect Christmas gift for any Withnail fan. Chin Chin! MC