Seamus Murphy - Strange Love - 2025

This extraordinary work, captured between 2005 and 2019, challenges the conventional narrative of East versus West and offers a striking visual exploration of life in post-industrial America and Russia.

Through his lens, Murphy uncovers unexpected similarities between the two nations. It forces us to question our assumptions and rethink geopolitical divides, prompting a fundamental question: are the lives shaped by such immense power really all that different? Can we even distinguish between them in a set of photographs? With its deliberate sequencing—U.S., Russia, U.S., Russia—Murphy’s work disorients and engages the viewer, and it becomes easy to lose one’s bearings.

Looking at the book, how often will you get it wrong?
Strange Love serves as a timely reflection on the fragile, sometimes indistinguishable line separating the two countries. While the powerful engage in high-stakes political games, Murphy’s collection focuses on the overlooked lives of working people—those who always pay the price.

This is a photo book that not only redefines borders but reframes our understanding of the human experience on both sides of this deeply troubled and consequential divide.