Sag Harbor - At the Delaney Cooke Gallery in Sag Harbor, the intimate space was filled to capacity on Saturday, April 4 as friends, fans and well-wishers of photographer Dennis Murphy spilled out on to the sidewalk, waiting for a chance to duck out of the raw northeasterly wind and admire his photographs.

Speaking with Murphy (who lives in Bridgehampton), he stated that "In the mid-1980s, after borrowing a friend's camera, I began to use black and white infrared film to chronicle the people and times of New York City. Up until that time I hadn't considered myself an artist in the visual sense, having instead been involved in the East Village music scene. I found that the city and its inhabitants made their own compelling landscapes and, like John Ford in Monument Valley, I would let this scenery do most of the work for me. My early black and white images were candid street shots imbued with ethereal highlights and shadows I wanted from the infrared effect in hopes the work would create my own signature. In those days, in downtown New York City, anywhere you looked there were fascinating looking people just begging to be photographed. It was almost as if I couldn't take a bad picture."

Commenting that "I never was a studio type person - thinking about what I wanted to shoot. I was out in the street and the world and had to just shoot by my wits as it was happening so fast."

The crowd at the Delaney Cooke Gallery was standing room only for opening night at Dennis Murphy's show.

Murphy began to "seriously" research the history of his new pastime while keeping tabs on the art world markets, media critiques and publishing trends. "I began to think of what fun I could have in art and what was happening in the outside world - so I really began to study the history of photography, and the history of all the old timers I liked such as Brassai."

Murphy indicated that "I couldn't help noticing a curious discrepancy peculiar to the photography medium; black and white work was automatically designated noteworthy and/or serious art, whereas color was dismissed as some Johnny-come-lately bastard child [at least back in the late 1980s, early 1990s that was the impression I got of who was buying what"].

Discussing his impression of the East End, Murphy noted "Out here in the Hamptons the photography tended to lean heavily towards black and white, and I also saw that in the city in realy cutting edge types of places. Right about then, I switched over to color infrared."

Murphy spent a few years experimenting with filter combinations until settling "on the one that seemed to work for me." He comments that he and his camera then took to the streets much as before - in particular when he realized that photographers whose work he admired where using subjects that were all friends and acquaintances, Murphy was influenced by the "involvement" he saw in this method to photography, and "Right then I knew that I couldn't rely on the objective approach I had used so far."

Commenting on his current exhibition, Murphy revealed that "I had not been shooting for about two years - I dropped out of the art scene out here as I had done a show in Sag Harbor two years ago and I spent a lot of money with a very poor turnout. Friends recommended Mary Delaney Cooke to me, so I showed her my portfolio, she liked it, and asked to see more.

Encouraged, Murphy states that "I have a body of work that is really versatile, different techniques and subject matter and she took it from there. Whatever she choose was fine with me because I like them all."

Murphy does relay that "I helped hang the show and that was that, and although everyone is complimenting me on the show - I have to say Mary did a good job - the way the show looks is all Mary."

 • Murphy's photographs can be seen at the Delaney Cooke Gallery beginning April 4 through April 19.