PJ Harvey likes to do things her own way: she loves to explore new paths. Her latest release, Let England Shake, is a good example of her modus operandi: besides the musical change, it’s notable for the videos related to it. PJ, in fact, chose to film a short movie for each track and decided to hire Seamus Murphy for the job.
Murphy is a British documentary photographer with little video skills and no musical experience (known mainly for his work in countries like Afghanistan, destroyed by war), in case you’re wondering. A bizarre and risky choice, but completely coherent with PJ’s spirit.
“It started out that she had seen my Afghan work at an exhibition in London, and then she got the book, and I think over time she thought that she might like to work with me in some way. So I got a call from her manager asking if I would be interested in doing something, and I said sure“, tells Murphy. The he adds: “What she said was that when she saw my work, it had an emotional impact. Although Afghanistan is obviously a troubled place, the book and the exhibition has very little of war in it, although most of the pictures are taken during wartime. But a lot of them are quiet pictures. I think it was that emotional storytelling that appealed to her. You know, I’m not a news photographer. I might cover things that are in the news, but I don’t do it with a news style or a news agenda. Although it looks, perhaps, on paper that I’m not suited to producing work for something like a music film, my previous work is not terribly hard-hitting or newsy. I tend to go for the more subtle interpretation of what I’m witnessing“.
Muprhy’s approach to filming has been naturalistic, and he confirms it saying: “Naturalistic is absolutely the word. It’s not realism as such, although the situations are real. There’s no lighting whatsoever in any of the videos. I’ve used available light, which is the way I always work. And I didn’t want any effects whatsoever. I didn’t want any slow motion. There’s a couple of things where I’ve reversed the motion from forward or backward, but that’s a thing of convenience“.
The result is stunning, even if the director confessed he wasn’t really a fan of PJ’s: “I had obviously heard of PJ Harvey. I think I might’ve seen her on some music program on television once. I have to admit, I don’t know why the hell I hadn’t. There must be some reason why I missed Polly, because it’s certainly music I would’ve liked. Sometimes there’s a movie you missed, or there’s a book everyone’s talked about that you haven’t gotten to read. It’s almost a bit like that. I’m a late arriver, but I’m a great appreciator“.
Read a good interview with Murphy here.
