Welcome to no. 43 in our series Poignant Pics where our editor, Diana Nicholette Jeon, writes about two images from Lea Murphy’s series “The Dark Beyond The Stars”

When There Were No Words…

I first saw Lea Murphy's sailboat photograph on the cover of Shots Magazine Summer 2019 issue, which featured the theme of water, and my eyes riveted to it. Honestly, I cannot even begin to state how many times the image has come to the fore of my mind since that first viewing.

At first glance, it looks like a sweet image of a children's toy on a rainy day, but there is a plaintiveness to the work that calls attention to something deeper and darker beneath that rain-flecked water. It is a metaphor for the reality that we can never know what is happening beneath the surface of someone else's skin. The circular ripples on the water seem to be a stand-in for untold torrents of tears. Since there is just the singular sailboat, there is also a sense of solitude. But it's not the peaceful sort, more the isolation borne of someone in pain. The image of a feather in the cage also has pain, of being trapped, separated from daily life. It's an image I hadn't seen until the day I went hunting for the sailboat image, but it spoke to me at an equally deep level. 

Many cultures use feathers to designate their prayers to the sky gods; others consider feathers a message from the gods, sometimes telling the finder to consult the heavens for clarity. In more contemporary thought, some people believe that encountering a lone feather along our path is a different sign from the heavens...that it is a message for us from a loved one who has departed their earthly body. The latter makes sense; feathers found alone are released from the temporal experience of burden. Feathers are like the human soul at release from the body–free to fly and ascend. For some of us more earthbound minds, sailing holds that same kind of birdlike freedom, a chance to shake off the shackles of life and go where the wind will take us.

(click the thumbnails for the full sized images)

I was distantly acquainted with Lea and her work dating back about four or so years. We both had been participants in one of Laura Valenti's online courses. While we were tentative acquaintances, we did not know each other well and had little online communication. Most of the work I knew as Lea's was beautiful photographs of her nieces and nephews, something that is sort of a given due to her chosen career as a family lifestyle photographer. I was also well aware of her personal stories of loss. Yet, they were not present in the work I knew as being hers. I can honestly state that learning that magazine cover with the sailboat was Lea's work was indeed a surprise to me.

Asked about these images, Lea said, "I look closely at what was on the surface, easy to see, as well as what was deeper and perhaps more challenging to look at. This series, The Dark Between the Stars, is my ongoing exploration of grief, disbelief, and questioning as I work to come to terms with these profound losses." 

According to the CDC, the US rate of death by suicide increased by 30% between 2000 and 2016. Among girls and women, the increase has been 50%; among boys and men, 21%. Pre-COVID (2019), suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the US; in people aged 10-34, the second leading cause. All this seems quite overwhelming for a subject that was usually only mentioned in whispers behind closed doors until recently. "Suicide survivors," people who cared deeply about the person, may be left facing one of their most challenging of experiences. The shock and grief , often accompanied by some guilt, that consumes survivors can be overwhelming. Some may also experience physical symptoms such as headaches or changes in appetite and/or sleeping patterns.

The saying misery loves company usually meant derogatorily, but sometimes it is just a simple truth. It's courageous to show your pain to the world, and it's challenging to show that amount of significant vulnerability. Doing such work as an image-maker allows some degree of healing. Putting the work into the universe enables others who have the same experience to alleviate feelings of being so alone; knowing that others understand the particular kind of pain they are dealing with is the foundation for grief support groups, after all. 

Sometimes photographs are beautiful or tragic images documenting a moment in time; other times, they link to someone's inner life and speak more universally to the human experience. These two heartbreakingly beautiful images are the latter. Bravo, Lea, for delving so profoundly into your losses; many people will be helped because of it.

Artist Bio

Lea Murphy began photographing at the age of eleven to earn her Girl Scout photography badge; she loved it so much she never stopped. Lea’s work centers around the themes of childhood, loss and grief as she explores her response to the traumatic deaths of three of her four brothers: one to drowning and two to suicide. Lea’s award-winning work has been published in Black + White Photography, Shots and Motherhood magazines. She has shown in local, regional and national exhibitions. She lives in the Brookside neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri, where she creates portraits of infants, children and families.

More of this series can be seen here.

Author Bio

Diana Nicholette Jeon is an award-winning artist based in Honolulu, HI, who works primarily with lens-based media. Her work has been seen both internationally and nationally in solo and group exhibitions. Jeon holds an MFA from UMBC.