Murray Ballard (b.1983) is a photographer based in Brighton, UK. His work explores a variety of subjects across several interrelated areas: the environment, social issues, science and technology.
He is best known for his long-term project, The Prospect of Immortality, an investigation of cryonics - the practice of freezing the dead in the hope that future science and technology will be able to bring them back to life. An exhibition of the work was first shown at Impressions Gallery, Bradford and continues to tour both nationally and internationally. In 2016 GOST Books published an extensive monograph of the work, which was shortlisted for the Paris Photo Aperture First Book Award.
His commissioned work includes: a residency at The John Innes Centre - Europe’s largest research centre for the study of crop plants and microbiology - which resulted in, How to Genetically Modify a Tomato and Other Things we Eat, a newspaper publication and pop-up exhibition; a FotoDocument commission to photograph the UK’s renewable energy industry, which was exhibited at the Brighton Photo Biennale; a Photoworks commission, in collaboration with Willis Newson, to make work about the South Downs landscape for the walls of the redeveloped Royal Sussex County Hospital; and in January 2020 he was selected by GRAIN, alongside 10 other photographers, to make new photographic work about the farming community in Lincolnshire for their Rural Projects programme. The Rural Gaze, a book of this work, was published in 2021 by GRAIN Projects.
In October 2022 he began his Masters in Photography at University of the West of England.
GOST Books