Murray, Kenneth, 1943-
Biography
Kenneth M. Murray was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1943. In 1971, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in art and journalism from East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee.
Murray's professional career has included both cinematography and photography. As a cinematographer Murray worked for WKPT-TV, Kingsport, Tennessee, and freelanced for "The Dick Cavet Show," "ABC Nightly News," CBS News, and UNESCO. The greater part of Murray's career, however, has been as a photographer. He has been employed by several newspapers, among them the Johnson City Press-Chronicle, Kingsport Times-News, Billings Gazette (Billings, Montana), Nashville Tennessean, Sarasota Herald-Tribune (Sarasota, Florida), and the Chattanooga Times. He also freelanced for a number of nationally known publications, including Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, and the New York Times. In addition, Murray has taught photography at East Tennessee State University, Chowan (Junior) College, Murfreesboro, North Carolina, the Kingsport, Tennessee Fine Arts Center, and the Jonesborough, Tennessee public schools.
Murray's photographs have been exhibited throughout the eastern United States. In 1980, he was one of four artists represented at the exhibit, "The American Coal Miner," at the International Center of Photography, New York City. Two years later, Murray had prints exhibited at the B. Carroll Reece Museum, East Tennessee State University, and the West Virginia exhibit at the World's Fair, Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1984 the Spirit Center for the Arts, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Highlands Community College, Highlands, Georgia, displayed a selection of Murray's prints.
Murray has published three photographic essays: Down to Earth: People of Appalachia (1981); The American Coal Miner (1980); and Portrait of Appalachia (1985).