Murray Martin

Murray Martin (27 January 1943 – 14 August 2007) was a British documentary and docudrama filmmaker.[1] He was a founding and lifelong member of Amber Film & Photography Collective, with whom he made many films including Seacoal (1985), In Fading Light (1989) and Eden Valley (1994).

Life and work

Martin was born in Stoke-on-Trent[1][2] and attended a grammar school there,[1] Longton High School.[3] He studied fine art at Newcastle University in the early 1960s; taught art history for a short while at Newcastle Polytechnic then in 1966 began studying filmmaking at Regent Street Polytechnic in London.[1]

Martin along with photographer Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen and filmmaker Graham Denman, came together in London in 1968 around his vision to found Amber Film & Photography Collective.[1][4][5][6][7] The group moved to Newcastle in 1969.[1][8] Martin was instrumental in Amber making "40 films and 100 photographic narratives depicting working class and marginalised lives and landscapes in the north of England, and 100 more classic and contemporary photographic exhibitions through which the group explored the traditions and possibilities of documentary."[1][5]

He died of a heart attack in 2007, aged 64.[1][5] He was survived by his partner Ellin Hare, their son and a son from an earlier relationship.[1]

Films directed by Martin

[n 1]

  • Maybe (Amber, 1968) – with Graham Denman[1]
  • Seacoal (Amber, 1985)[2]
  • In Fading Light (Amber, 1989)[2]
  • Eden Valley (Amber, 1994)[2]

Notes
  1. Though all of Amber Films' works since Seacoal were officially collectively credited to Amber Production Team, rather than individually credited, the listed films have been described as directed by Martin.

References
  1. Rigby, Graeme (7 September 2007). "Obituary: Murray Martin". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  2. "A culture preserved in Amber". British Film Institute. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  3. "Murray Martin". funeral-notices.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  4. "History". Amber Film & Photography Collective. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  5. "Caught in amber". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  6. Hattenstone, Simon (8 June 2001). "Profile of Newcastle's low budget movie-makers, the Amber collective". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  7. "Any Answers: Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen". British Journal of Photography. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  8. Newbury, Darren (2002). "Documentary practices and working-class culture: an interview with Murray Martin (Amber films and side photographic gallery)". Visual Studies. 17 (2): 113–128. doi:10.1080/1472586022000032198. S2CID 144833199.
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