"I would love to shoot in Brazil. I have not yet been there but have already fallen in love with its beauty, atmosphere and people!" Yep yep and it will be a great pleasure to welcome this terrific photographer. Ladies and gentlemen, there comes Brent Murray.

Raised in Maine, Brent has been working with some of the most prestigious publications around the world. He was a photo editor at The New York Times and Condé Nast. In this exclusive interview you´ll be able to know about more about this amazing photographer.

I grew up in a relatively small town in Maine and moved to New York City immediately after college. I am a classically trained musician and discovered photography more seriously as an extension of my visual arts work as a designer, and didn't really start shooting until my late 20s. I was very fortunate to be given some really terrific opportunities early on and, after years of on-the-job training, finally got to a place where I was able to express myself visually. It was only after I started getting published that I studied portraiture briefly at the international Center of Photography with Amy Arbus, a wonderful portrait photographer and the daughter of the legendary Diane Arbus. I was heavily influenced by and learned from so many of the greats, and I have been fortunate enough to work with many of them as a photo editor first at The New York Times and then at Condé Nast. In terms of inspiration, Helmut Newton, Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Sally Mann and Annie Leibovitz have all had a tremendous influence on me.

After a few years of struggling with aping the styles of other (far more successful) photographers, I finally arrived at a method that's quite different from everything else out there. I cut my teeth on digital but found that film, especially instant, had a texture and emotional resonance that I found missing in newer technology. I found beauty in the decay and the obscured and was no longer interested in everything being perfectly exposed, high contrast, saturated and tack sharp. The Hasselblad I use, with its distinctive square format, also became a vital component of my style. By simplifying my approach, technically and stylistically, I found my own voice coming through more clearly. Although I still feel my photographs are quite quirky and strange, that's exactly what draws my clients to me and that will be the way I continue to work.

The tecnology and the worldwide crisis on fashion photography

I am widening my client base and bringing my approach to more than just editorial and fashion clients. I would like to see a return to a photographic beauty that honors reality to a greater degree -- one that greatly reduces the amount of retouching, collaging and other
trickery. I think we've reached a point, technologically, where it's so easy to distort reality that we can barely look at each other for who we really are. Perfection is a nice idea, but I've found that it is the flaws that make something truly beautiful and memorable.

Budgets certainly have been cut and for an industry that so often relies on production value, it's clearly had an impact both in the number of assignments available as well as the images themselves. Also, it's even more competitive now, so it's vital to have the necessary skills, contacts and experience and be the kind of person with whom people want to work. Street fashion photography has become quite popular and I appreciate the democratization, in that respect. I like seeing a wider range of people and fashion viewpoints being celebrated. The commoditization of photographs, more abundant and being offered more and more cheaply, means that you really have to distinguish your work from the rest and make its value -- artistically as well as monetarily -- much more clear to clients. There will always be a market for high-end fashion photography, and that's great, and I'm also pleased to see that an easier, snapshot style of fashion photography is experiencing a surge.

Special moments: "You just have to learn how to be ready to receive it when it happens"

When that special moment happens and a great picture is setting itself up, I can feel it and I just pray that I've set everything properly and can manage to snap the shutter at the right moment. It's a kind of small miracle, or a gift, that is being offered just for an instant. You just have to learn how to be ready to receive it when it happens. That, and knowing how and when to get out of the way and let it happen.

I've also figured out that it's important to take bad pictures. I've taken countless terrible dodos of pictures, and while every now and then you'll actually find a real gem amongst them, it's important to take them because that's where you're groping and learning.

One of the great things about my job is that I often have very special moments and each one is unique. When all the various elements come together and you make that terrific picture, there's really nothing like it.

Famous people and backstage´s moments

I was photographing Zac Posen backstage once, and it was toward the beginning of my time covering fashion week, so I was pretty green. I knew I had only a couple of minutes to work with him, and we were just surrounded by well-wishers, fans, models and other photographers. I was on assignment and had to get my shot, so I instinctively just barked at everyone to back away from us, get out of the frame, stop taking pictures with their flashes and let us work. The room went silent momentarily, Zac and I got the pictures, and then the
celebrating continued. I was being paid to get a picture, and I had to make sure I got the best I could. Sometimes you do what you have to do to get the job done. He was also impressed by the way I took control of the situation and came back to talk with me when it was over. I felt like a bit of a jerk at the time, but it clearly made a good impression on him and I got the shot.

Photographing famous people is an entirely different process from working with models. Particularly with celebrities, I'm trying to access an honest, intimate moment -- an expression or gesture that you don't usually see from that person. It's about getting them to drop the mask, forget about the publicist and stylist in the corner and share a private moment with me. It can be very tricky but when it happens, it's terrific.

Top cool places for a shooting

First and foremost, I enjoy shooting in the studio in my home. The vast majority of my work is done there, and it's quite different from shooting in a commercial space. It immediately sets up a different dynamic with the subject and gives us an intimacy that would take much more time to establish elsewhere. Also, I enjoy shooting on the streets of New York, because of their dynamism and energy. Rome, of course; everything looks better there. Montauk feels so remote and so distinctly a hybrid of New York and New England, and that makes it a wonderful backdrop. Lastly, I love the transient beauty of luxury hotel rooms, simultaneously distinct and anonymous. I would love to shoot in Brazil. I have not yet been there but have already fallen in love with its beauty, atmosphere and people!

IMAGE worth A THOUSAND WORDS?

Is an image worth a thousand words? I think an image is entirely different from words. Like music, a photograph points to the ineffable; it gives you a sense and a feeling unlike words. It gives you a different kind of information. I am always drawn back to the Diane Arbus quote about a photograph being "a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know." I enjoy photographs that
raise more questions than they answer.

The mid-career models and upcoming projects

Lately, I've been working a lot with mid-career models, many of whom worked heavily for several years, took a few years off, and are starting to work again in their late 20s/early 30s. I really enjoy working with them because they have experience and perspective as well as a different relationship with the camera that only comes with age. There is a kind of blank-canvas beauty to youth, but I am drawn to those with more experience; it shows on the face and is much more compelling to me.

In terms of upcoming projects, I am looking forward to a portrait photo essay of mine coming out in March/April in Inside Arts magazine. I was commissioned to photograph a wide range of people who are all passionate about the arts in different capacities. I'm really pleased
with the results and am looking forward to sharing those portraits.

I am also currently working on a portrait series of the heroes of gay culture, both gay and straight, as well as a visual history of hate crime in America. Ending homophobia and discrimination and moving toward a world wherein everyone is treated with compassion and has
equal rights is very important to me.

Motto: To paraphrase Laurie Anderson, I'd say that my job as an artist is to make images and leave the decision-making and conclusion-drawing to other people.

Info contact: http://www.brentmurray.com/