Beyond Photography... the artwork of Michael J Murphy

Murphy's collection of photographs features the cemeteries of five states and the monuments and memorials created to commemorate the deceased.

From his dreams of becoming a mortician at age twelve, to his high school job as a grave digger, Michael Murphy had a lifelong fascination with the macabre. His series of graveyard photography began in 2004 when he befriended the groundskeeper of a historic Philadelphia cemetery, and he spent the next 15 years actively seeking and photographing cemeteries everywhere he visited.

This exhibit of 70 images spans the cemeteries of five states and features the monuments and memorials created to commemorate the deceased. The photographs reveal how trends and style have influenced how we have memorialized our loved ones throughout time.

The “Beyond Photography” exhibit is made possible by Murphy’s wife, Sara Urband Murphy. While Murphy was fascinated by the dead and the rituals that the living employ to memorialize those that they loved, his contribution to the living was a far greater gift.

Public reception will be held on Friday, January 14, 2022

The exhibit will be on display January 12 – January 29, 2022.