Student

of the
Natural World
A LOVE OF THE OUTDOORS IGNITES
TOM MURPHY’S IMAGES

By Robert Kiener
©ARTIE MORRIS

IMAGES ©TOM MURPHY / tmurphywild.com

78 PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER PPA.COM/PPMAG AUGUST 2021 79

T om Murphy has been there,
done that: completed six trips
to Africa to photograph moun-
tain gorillas; made images of—
and been chased by—grizzlies
in Alaska; photographed Adélie
penguins as they swan dived off
icebergs in Antarctica. In the more
than four decades he’s been a
working photographer, the 71-
year-old has published 10 books of
his work and had images printed
in National Geographic, Audubon,
The New York Times Magazine, and
Time, among other publications.
He’s taught scores of workshops
and was the first person licensed
to lead photography tours in Yel-
lowstone National Park.
And if he’s in the mood, he’ll
generously tell an eager listener
the stories behind his most dra-
matic and beautiful images. To-
day, however, he’s agreed to talk
about some of the photographs
he didn’t make. He sits back on an
old maple school chair in his cozy
Arts and Crafts style office in
Livingston, Montana, pauses and
smiles before beginning a story
about the one that got away.
“Actually, there are a lot more
than one that got away,” says the
award-winning wildlife and na-
ture photographer. “After all, I’ve
been doing this a long time.”
A few years ago, Murphy, who
lives an hour or so north of Yel-
lowstone, was leading a photog-
raphy tour into a remote part of
the park known as the Thorofare.
80 PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER
“It’s been an honor to
witness what their lives
are like and discover how
smart and adaptable
As he piloted an inflatable boat
across Yellowstone Lake, he heard
a flapping in the skies and looked
up to see three bald eagles flying
these animals are.”
fast out of the willows.
“I’ll never forget it,” says Mur-
phy. “The first eagle was carry-
ing a huge Yellowstone cutthroat
trout in his feet and was climbing
higher and higher into the sky,
flying as quickly as he could. A
second eagle was chasing after
him and soon crashed into him,
forcing him to drop the trout.
Then, like an acrobat, the second
eagle swooped down to catch the
fish as it was spiraling down to
the lake below. Incredible!”
“But there’s more,” continues
Murphy. “As the second eagle
gained height with its hard-won
dinner in its claws, the third
eagle attacked it, knocking the
trout out of its grasp. Then it
swooped down, caught the tum-
bling fish in mid-air and flew
away with it. I’d spent more than
40 years in Yellowstone but had
never seen anything like that.”
Although he wishes he could
have captured the scene on film,
he’s not a man to harbor regrets.
His explanation hints at why he’s
become known as one of the
world’s most devoted conservation
photographers: “No, it’s enough
that I’ve been privileged to see all
this wildlife and explore the way
so many of the world’s animals
live,” he explains. “It’s been an
honor to witness what their lives
PPA.COM/PPMAG AUGUST 2021 81

The world through Tom Murphy’s eyes
ppa.com/tom-murphy
82 PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER
ADVICE FROM
THE SEASONED
Although Murphy has cut back on the fre-
quency of his photography workshops and
tours, he still enjoys traveling internation-
ally and helping both aspiring and accom-
plished photographers produce great work.
Just back from a trip to the coast of Alaska,
he offered some tips for photographers
interested in improving their wildlife and na-
ture photography.
MAKE A GREAT IMAGE. You need three
aspects to create a wining image, explains
Murphy. “First, this is a coyote. Second, this
is a coyote doing something. Third, this is a
coyote doing something in a nice landscape.
To get all three elements, it helps to be
able to learn enough about an animal to
anticipate their actions. Watch them. Learn
that bison calve toward the end of April, elk
a month or so later. I use the analogy that
if you want to be a successful baseball pho-
tographer, you need to know the rules of
the game. It’s the same thing with wildlife;
understand what they are thinking, what
they are doing, what’s going on.”
GET OUT. Serendipity is good, explains
Murphy. “The great thing about nature is
that something is happening everywhere,
so it pays to wander around. In Yellowstone,
for example, get off the road, away from
the crowds, and sit down and observe. If are like and discover how smart photography when he bought a
you keep to the roads in Yellowstone, you and adaptable these animals are. camera to record what he saw on
will see only 8% of the park from your car And if I do manage to make a backpacking trips.
window. The old adage, ‘F8 and be there,’ picture that shows viewers how He finished college, earning
applies. Get off the beaten path. Also, be beautiful and interesting they a degree in anthropology from
patient and open to all possibilities. I’ve are, perhaps I can convince peo- Montana State University, but
seen too many people who think, Gotta ple that they are worth saving.” still hoped he could make a living
get that grizzly pic! who miss unbeliev- from photography. He moved
able stuff.” DEVOTED TO THE WILD to Livingston in 1978, where he
ACT LIKE A GUEST. Imagine someone Murphy has loved being outdoors, opened a photography studio
barged into your living room and stuck a immersed in nature, all his life. and began exploring—and pho-
camera in your face. “How would you feel?” Born and raised on a 7,500-acre tographing—nearby Yellowstone.
asks Murphy. “Keep your distance and treat cattle ranch in South Dakota, he He’s still at it.
animals with respect. It drives me crazy went to college with plans of be- To support himself and his wife,
when I see a photographer whistling, scream- coming a chemist. “But it didn’t Bonnie, he drove a school bus,
ing, jumping up and down, trying to get a take me long to decide that I had photographed weddings, and did
reaction from an animal to get a picture that no interest in living the rest of my portrait work. But Murphy’s main
will sell. They are disrupting the animal. An life in a chemistry lab,” he explains. interest was exploring Yellow-
ethical photographer is just a witness. And “I missed being outdoors and stone, and he immersed himself
remember, never feed wildlife; the picture exploring nature.” He dropped in its wildness, its vastness and,
you get will be an unnatural behavior and, out of college, “banged around” especially, its wildlife. First, he
sadly, a fed animal is a dead animal.” a bit, and eventually discovered had to learn as much as he could
PPA.COM/PPMAG AUGUST 2021 83
 about his new 3,472-square-mile
neighborhood. He’s explained,
“As a wildlife and nature photog-
rapher I want my work to be as
informed, true, and complete as
I can make it. To do that I need to
understand the natural world by
participating in it in all seasons
as completely as I can. I need to
be near the edge of survival since
my subjects are sometimes at
that same edge.”
In 1985, he amazed everyone
(and terrified some) who knew
him by announcing he was going
to ski across Yellowstone in the
dead of winter. Alone. With just
a thin nylon tarp for shelter, not
a tent. Fourteen days later he
emerged from the trek. He had
covered 175 miles, lost 13% of his
body weight (18 pounds) and
survived one of the park’s worst
winter storms in decades; for 12
of the 14 days he had encoun-
tered blizzard whiteout condi-
tions and temperatures as low as
minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit.
“It wasn’t fun,” says an under-
stated Murphy, “and I didn’t do it
because I loved to ski. I did it be-
cause I wanted to see the back-
country and how the park’s ani-
mals coped with those wintry con-
ditions.” He pauses then adds,
“And, of course, I just like being
out there. I even like being out in
bad weather; it’s more interest-
“As a wildlife and nature photographer ing. But I’m kind of an oddball.”
I want my work to be as informed, true, “That’s Tom for you,” jokes
noted writer and longtime friend
and complete as I can make it. To do Tim Cahill. “He survived this cra-
that I need to understand the natural zy, impossible trip and brought
back images from Yellowstone’s
world by participating in it in all seasons backcountry that moved and in-
as completely as I can. I need to be near spired us.”
Murphy visits Yellowstone 80
the edge of survival since my subjects to 100 times a year. Sometimes
are sometimes at that same edge.” he just sits and watches some of
his favorite animals, the bison
or elk, to learn how they act and
react or what they’re doing when
this or that happens. “You have
to understand animals to be able
Reprinted from August 2021 Professional Photographer
magazine with permission. to anticipate their actions,” he
©Professional Photographers of America • ppa.com/ppmag
84 PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER
says. “Besides, I don’t have to be
making pictures all the time.”
Cahill, who wrote about Mur-
phy in his acclaimed travel book,
“Lost in My Own Backyard: A
Walk in Yellowstone National
Park,” claims he has long been
in awe of the photographer’s
vast knowledge of the region’s
natural history: “[He] knows the
flora and fauna and the natural
rhythms of the place in a way
that he knows the beating of his
own heart. Walking with him
through Yellowstone on a sum-
mer’s day is an education: He can
tell you what this flower is, why
that coyote is leaping, where the
wolves den, and what the bears
are eating. Consequently, his
photographs are not simply stun-
ning or striking; they are also
knowledgeable and even wise.”
ADVENTURE AWAITS
Coronavirus-related restrictions
have temporarily slowed Murphy’s
international travel, but there’s still
much to discover an hour’s drive
away in Yellowstone. Its 2,221,766
acres make it bigger than Rhode
Island and Delaware combined.
And it’s home to the largest con-
centration of mammals (67 species)
in the lower 48 states. So, he has
plenty of wildlife and hidden
places to explore and photograph.
Winter is Murphy’s favorite time
in the park. “It’s the quiet that
is so remarkable,” he explains.
His green eyes light up. “During
my 1985 ski trip across the park,
when I was in one of the most
beautiful and most remote sec-
tions of Yellowstone, I stopped in
my tracks and held my breath for
a moment. Then I heard thump,
thump, thump. It was my heart
beating. It was that quiet.”
“At that moment I felt that I
was intimately connected to this
wild part of the world. I cannot
wait to get out there again!” •
Robert Kiener is a writer in Vermont.