One shot interview with Murray BallardOne shot interview with Murray Ballard
What made you push the shutter button to capture this image?
I was in Moscow working on my long-term project about cryonics - the practice of preserving the dead until future technology can bring them back to life - and I walked passed this scene. It looked quite magical - the children playing football in the snow - not a normal sight for me, coming from the south-coast of England. I love snow pictures. And the way snow creates a blank canvas for your subject. Looking at the picture now, it also reminds me of a Lowry painting.
Is this image part of a wider project, if so what is the projects focus?
It wasn’t taken as part of a wider project, but it became part of a series called ‘One Week in Moscow’. I went to Russia with my then girlfriend (now my wife), we planned on spending a month there, but after a week we had a call from home in the middle of the night. Sadly her mother had been rushed to hospital following a cardiac arrest. We got home as soon as we could, but tragically she never regained consciousness. She had Type 1 diabetes, but nobody thought something like this was on the cards. It was an almighty shock. She was only 50. In an attempt to do something positive and cathartic, some months later we decided to publish a small photography book with our photographs from that week in Moscow to raise money for charity. It was simply called ‘One Week in Moscow’. To our surprise we managed to raise £5000 for Diabetes UK.
Why is this image special to you?
I guess it’s become special for the reason outlined in my previous answer.
Is there any photography books that inspired you to capture this image?
Not really, but at the time I took it I was working as an assistant to Mark Power who was working on ’The Sound of Two Songs’ then. He took a lot of snow pictures for that project and it probably made me see the potential for how beautiful the snow can be.
What camera are you currently using?
Mostly a Fujifilm GFX.
Please tell us about yourself
My name is Murray Ballard. I’m a photographer based in Brighton. I’m currently working on two long-term commissions for Grain Projects, about the rural community in Lincolnshire, and Photoworks, for the Royal Sussex County Hospital, about the South Downs landscape.
Links to your social media and website http://www.murrayballard.com/ https://twitter.com/murrayballard
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