Ken Murphy Captures the REAL Mississippi

Ken Murphy Captures the Real Mississippi

To say Ken Murphy takes Mississippi pictures is like saying William Faulkner wrote Mississippi stories. In my years freelancing for newspapers and magazines, I have developed an affinity for truly gifted artists, so much so that I am tempted to seek an interview more for the interesting conversation than for the byline and paycheck. Talking with Ken Murphy always makes me glad to be a writer.

“My South Coast Home” is a coffee table book of photographs from Ken’s home beat, the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He is a native of Bay St. Louis. Yet, one of the things I like about Ken is that he pays no mind to boundaries or county lines or city limits. His eye for the beauty and spirit of his coastal territory obscures everything but a continuity of land, water and sky.

His first coffee table book literally took my breath away. In it, the images transported me to places I knew well growing up in Long Beach. They are all the more precious now, these pictures of churches and restaurants and local landmarks, most of which Hurricane Katrina wiped from the face of the Earth many months ago. Still, my favorite photographs are those of coastal bayous, pelicans and panoramic views of a fading sun on a watery horizon, the things that even a killer storm couldn’t destroy.

Ken’s second book, “Mississippi,” will be available to the public January 15, 2007. Trust me. You want to save a little Christmas money for this. Because I had the great fortune to edit and write copy for this book, I got a sneak peek of the 165 photographs that fill its pages. I am a sentimental sap. Needless to say, when Rick Dobbs, the designer, sent previews in email, I sat at my computer and cried. Never had I felt so proud to call Mississippi my home. I was awestruck. From serene pastoral landscapes to a rapturous view atop Mount Woodall, the images portray our state as the natural wonder and culturally diverse destination that I wish outsiders could finally, once and for all, understand.

We hear about statistics that tell us we are at the bottom of the barrel. I know, too, that statistics don’t reveal the true nature of things and that economic indicators may not accurately reflect the potential of a place. What I do fully comprehend is that Mississippi is a state much maligned and misunderstood. We have come far. We have made significant progress. We have healed many of the wounds that the civil rights era dug so deeply over 40 years ago. People like Ken Murphy and the books he has masterfully created should serve as a wake up call. Just look at our state and see how very much of it is innately and undeniably spectacular.

Another thing that makes Ken a top-notch artist is his appreciation for the people who helped him along the way. He is eager to please, dedicated to his craft and feverishly passionate for making every image count. He listens when people tell him for the millionth time that he really should get a picture of this or that. But I have to say, the images that draw me in and make me want to stay are those that are clearly caught out of serendipity, the ones that present themselves when man and camera and light just happen to be in the right place at the right time.

I have never believed in coincidence or luck. Neither has anything to do with the photographs of Ken Murphy. I think there’s a reason that sometimes, the sun is in just the right position, and the clouds are just where they need to be, that for just long enough, the gulls catch a downdraft and the mullet eject from the surface and the sparkle from their spray disperses a rainbow while a solitary man, who has waited for hours, catches it all on film.

Still, whether it’s divine intervention or luck of the draw, living in Mississippi should make you feel fortunate. To see Ken Murphy’s books is to witness the enduring reasons it’s nothing but a good thing to call Mississippi home.