Artist Profile: Richard Murai

SIERRA FOOTHILLS’ PHOTOGRAPHER Richard Murai has won numerous awards for his Asia portfolio, including images from China, Japan and Southeast Asia. But Murai’s words also are powerful.

“Ongoing global unrest has caused extreme uncertainty and a difficult emotional time for all,” he writes on his website, Signs of Life: Worlds Apart.

“We continue to confront a perplexing, irrational and uncertain world. Reluctance to accept diverse culture/political/religious influences both here and abroad adds to the apprehension, cynicism and confusion.

“Becoming sensitive to unfamiliar cultures can quell much of this anxiety and may encourage tolerance and compassion.”

Murai, 56, was born in Berkeley, and he earned his MA from San Francisco State University. In addition to teaching photography at Yuba College in Marysville, he has been actively and passionately pursuing his creative work.

As a high school student during the tumultuous Vietnam era, he became heavily influenced by the documentary tradition of the early FSA photographers (who helped document the Great Depression) and the street photography of the ’60s. Hesays he “seriously considered the photo- journalist route” but, at the time, felt that “it was creatively limited” so he continued in the fine arts.

Murai says his photographic influences “are fairly eclectic and include the relaxed portraits of August Sander and Irving Penn, the solemn and enigmatic photographs of Emmit Gowin; the simple landscapes of David Plowden; and the sacred and profane work of Joel Peter Witkin.” He continues, “This is probably why I enjoy teaching; I can live vicariously through the eyes, and diverse work, of my students.”

He has conducted numerous workshops in California, New Mexico, Great Britain, Spain and Morocco. His ongoing fascination with documenting sacred sites of the world has generated travel to India, South America, the Middle East, Russia, Asia, Western Europe and the United States.

Murai lives in Penn Valley. His website is richardmurai.com.