About Me:
Barry G. Murray is a photographer, writer, Webmaster and outdoorsman extraordinaire. He was born in Portland, OR in 1939. He purchased his first camera at the tender age of eight. With his Brownie he took pictures of his feet, his pony, his folks, his hometown and the surrounding woods. That year for Christmas his Aunt Madeline gave him a photo developing set. It contained every thing that he needed to create photos. He set it up in the bathroom, reading the instructions carefully. He mixed the hypo and the fix in the little trays. Exposed his negative, put the piece of photo paper in the solution and waited for the image to appear. Nothing happened. He did this again and again. Still nothing. His supplies began to run low and he had one more chance to make it happen. He reread the instructions. Suddenly it occurred to him that he might have the trays reversed. He switched the trays and began again. First exposing the photographic paper, then dropping it into the solution. Just like magic, there was his pony that he had ridden during his visit to a large ranch in eastern Oregon that summer. From then on, he was hooked on watching the image appear and the techniques used to make it happen.
His first job was as an errand boy for the local Kodak store. He became the designated shooter, at school and on outings. Barry’s father was a lawyer of Mineralogy, and he found himself sent out into the wilderness is search of minerals. He mined uranium in Utah, gold in Oregon, Montana and Idaho, and silver in Alaska. These adventures provided him with endless opportunities to experience the wilderness and capture amazing images.
Barry joined the air force in 1956 and became a member of the photographic unit. His job was to develop aerial photos for bombing maps and intelligence purposes. Sometimes he was sent out to shoot assignment, such as car accidents, and parties. He earned a reputation as an all around cameraman.
After getting out of the service Barry opened a print shop, and did freelance photography and writing. In 1963, he moved his young family from Portland, OR to the Bay Area and worked with San Francisco Magazine. Here he experienced the Summer of Love and the country’s unrest. At night, he and his family would sit around the dinner table and talk of times gone by. In 1968, Barry was hired by his father to find silver in the Alaskan bush. Renowned bush pilot Don Sheldon took him out and dropped him on a frozen river. He searched for ore and staked mining claims, assembled a crew, and sent for his family where they spent the summer building cabins and a runway to support the operation. Once back home in California, talk at the dinner table turned to planning for a family adventure. In 1969-70 the Murray family pioneered the Pacific Crest Trail on horseback from Mexico to Canada, 2,600 miles. Barry photographed and chronicled the pack trip and wrote articles that were published in LIFE magazine, and other US and international publications. In 1974 the Murray family went on another life changing trek. They followed the gold rush trail of 1898, climbing the Chilkoot Pass and kayaking the Yukon River, 2,200 miles, from the headwaters to the Sea. Once again, Barry photographed the journey, both with still and 16mm cameras. Barry’s many other sojourns have taken him around the US and the world, in quest of gold in a dug out canoe in the Panama wilderness, into the bush of Alaska, and as a guest speaker aboard an around-the-world cruise. His keen eye captures images as art, and reaches into a person’s soul. Barry is a shadowcatcher who lives on the wind. His motto is “Are we having fun? Life is too short to not have fun.” If the answer is no, then it is time for a change.
Barry G. Murray is a photographer, writer, Webmaster and outdoorsman extraordinaire. He was born in Portland, OR in 1939. He purchased his first camera at the tender age of eight. With his Brownie he took pictures of his feet, his pony, his folks, his hometown and the surrounding woods. That year for Christmas his Aunt Madeline gave him a photo developing set. It contained every thing that he needed to create photos. He set it up in the bathroom, reading the instructions carefully. He mixed the hypo and the fix in the little trays. Exposed his negative, put the piece of photo paper in the solution and waited for the image to appear. Nothing happened. He did this again and again. Still nothing. His supplies began to run low and he had one more chance to make it happen. He reread the instructions. Suddenly it occurred to him that he might have the trays reversed. He switched the trays and began again. First exposing the photographic paper, then dropping it into the solution. Just like magic, there was his pony that he had ridden during his visit to a large ranch in eastern Oregon that summer. From then on, he was hooked on watching the image appear and the techniques used to make it happen.
His first job was as an errand boy for the local Kodak store. He became the designated shooter, at school and on outings. Barry’s father was a lawyer of Mineralogy, and he found himself sent out into the wilderness is search of minerals. He mined uranium in Utah, gold in Oregon, Montana and Idaho, and silver in Alaska. These adventures provided him with endless opportunities to experience the wilderness and capture amazing images.
Barry joined the air force in 1956 and became a member of the photographic unit. His job was to develop aerial photos for bombing maps and intelligence purposes. Sometimes he was sent out to shoot assignment, such as car accidents, and parties. He earned a reputation as an all around cameraman.
After getting out of the service Barry opened a print shop, and did freelance photography and writing. In 1963, he moved his young family from Portland, OR to the Bay Area and worked with San Francisco Magazine. Here he experienced the Summer of Love and the country’s unrest. At night, he and his family would sit around the dinner table and talk of times gone by. In 1968, Barry was hired by his father to find silver in the Alaskan bush. Renowned bush pilot Don Sheldon took him out and dropped him on a frozen river. He searched for ore and staked mining claims, assembled a crew, and sent for his family where they spent the summer building cabins and a runway to support the operation. Once back home in California, talk at the dinner table turned to planning for a family adventure. In 1969-70 the Murray family pioneered the Pacific Crest Trail on horseback from Mexico to Canada, 2,600 miles. Barry photographed and chronicled the pack trip and wrote articles that were published in LIFE magazine, and other US and international publications. In 1974 the Murray family went on another life changing trek. They followed the gold rush trail of 1898, climbing the Chilkoot Pass and kayaking the Yukon River, 2,200 miles, from the headwaters to the Sea. Once again, Barry photographed the journey, both with still and 16mm cameras. Barry’s many other sojourns have taken him around the US and the world, in quest of gold in a dug out canoe in the Panama wilderness, into the bush of Alaska, and as a guest speaker aboard an around-the-world cruise. His keen eye captures images as art, and reaches into a person’s soul. Barry is a shadowcatcher who lives on the wind. His motto is “Are we having fun? Life is too short to not have fun.” If the answer is no, then it is time for a change.