Wendy McMurdo
Wendy McMurdo (born 1962) specialises in photography and digital media. In 2018 she was named as one of the Hundred Heroines, an award created by the Royal Photographic Society to showcase global female photographic practice.
Also recorded as Wendy Mcmurdo · Wendy MacMurdo
Wendy McMurdo
- Name
- Wendy McMurdo
- Born
- 1962
- Birthplace
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Field
- art, contemporary fine art, photography, digital media
- Training
- University of Westminster Goldsmiths, University of London Pratt Institute, Brooklyn Edinburgh College of Art
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Occupation
- photographer · artist
- Education
- Goldsmiths and University of London · Edinburgh College of Art · Pratt Institute
- Languages
- English
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Wendy McMurdo (born 1962) specialises in photography and digital media. In 2018 she was named as one of the Hundred Heroines, an award created by the Royal Photographic Society to showcase global female photographic practice.
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Wendy McMurdo (born 1962 in Edinburgh) is a British artist and photographer. Wendy McMurdo studied at Edinburgh College of Art, Goldsmiths, University of London and Pratt Institute. The recorded working language is English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 02 October 2026
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wikidata · Q7982725 · wikipedia · Wendy McMurdo
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Wendy McMurdo • Born — 1962 • Birthplace — Edinburgh, Scotland • Field — art, contemporary fine art, photography, digital media • Training — University of Westminster Goldsmiths, University of London Pratt Institute, Brooklyn Edinburgh College of Art
Early life and education
Early life and education
McMurdo was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. She attended Edinburgh College of Art, Goldsmiths, University of London and Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York where she first became interested in photography.
Academic career
Academic career
McMurdo has been a board member for Stills Gallery (2015-2020) and New Media Scotland (2011-2014); Jill Todd Photographic Award specialist advisor and judge (2011-2014); Royal Society of Edinburgh Young People's Committee member (2010-2014), and Travelling Gallery advisory panel member (2013-2014); external assessor for MA Photography Review, Central Saint Martins, London (2015); Senior Assessor/Lecturer for the Open College of the Arts, UK; External Validator (BA Photography) University of Chester, UK (2015); Lecturer, School of Fine Art, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee, UK (1990-2002) and Lecturer, School of Fine Art, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh UK (1985-1897). She is currently a senior lecturer on the MA Photography programme at Falmouth University. In 2015, McMurdo was awarded a PhD degree by publication from the University of Westminster for her work exploring the impact of the computer on photography and identity formation. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). In September 2018, McMurdo was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) as Member (Elect).
Solo or two-person exhibitions
Solo or two-person exhibitions
• superNATURAL, Stills Gallery, Edinburgh, 1999. With Machiko Edmonson.
Group exhibitions
Group exhibitions
• ESP – Contemporary Artists Investigate The Paranormal, Ikon gallery, Birmingham, 1999. With Susan Hiller, Brian Catling and Tony Grisoni.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1962
Wendy McMurdo was born on 1 January 1962.
Publications
• Gilda Williams (Ed) (1997). Strange Days – British Contemporary Photography. Charta Press. Milan • David Brittain (Ed) (1999). Creative Camera: Thirty Years of Writing. Manchester University Press. Manchester • Centro de Fotografia, Universidad de Salamanca (1998, 2000). Wendy McMurdo. Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca. Spain • Charlotte Cotton (2004). The Photograph as Contemporary Art (World of Art). Thames & Hudson. London • David Campany (Ed) (2007). Art and Photography (Themes & Movements). Phaidon Press Ltd. London • Daniel Rubinstein (2009). Digitally Yours; The Body in Contemporary Photography. The Issues in Contemporary Culture and Aesthetics, 2&3. pp. 181–195.. University of the Arts. London • Ffotogallery (2009). Wendy McMurdo: The Skater. Ffotogallery. Wales. • Sylvia Wolf (2010). The Digital Eye: Photographic Art in the Electronic Age. Prestel. New York • Hilde Van Gelder & Helen Westgeest (2011). Photography Theory in Historical Perspective: Case Studies from Contemporary Art. Wiley-Blackwell. Chichester, UK • David Hopkins (2021). Dark Toys: Surrealism and the Culture of Childhood. Yale University Press. UK Europe and Overseas • Various (2021). Nachbilder. Eine Foto Text Anthologie. Herausgegeben von der Plattform Kulturpublizistik der Zurcher Hochschule der Kunste und dem Fotomuseum Winterthur Spector Books.
Photographic work
Her work centres around the relationship between technology and identity and she has produced several influential bodies of work which explore this theme. In the mid-1990s her first one-person show In a Shaded Place – the digital and the uncanny was toured extensively by the British Council. Her subsequent exhibition at the Centro de Fotografia Universidad de Salamanca in 1998 resulted in the publication of the first monograph on her work. She has been included in numerous group shows, including Unheimlich, curated by Urs Stahel at the Fotomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland, Scanner, curated by Lawrence Rinder at the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, California, The Anagrammatical Body – The Body and its Photographic Condition at the Neue Galerie Graz am Landesmuseum Joanneum in Graz, Austria, and Only Make Believe – Ways of Playing, curated by Marina Warner at Compton Verney, UK. Her work has been commissioned by the Science Museum, London and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, and is in a number of collections including that of the Fotomuseum Winterthur, the British Council, agnès b, the National Galleries of Scotland and Seattle's Henry Art Gallery, Washington, USA. Her work has been the subject of documentaries for BBC Two, Channel 4 and the National Galleries of Scotland. Other commissions include Indeterminate Objects (classrooms) for The Media Wall, The Photographers' Gallery, London, October 2017 – January 2018; a site-specific project "The World in London" for The Photographers' Gallery exhibited during the 2012 Summer Olympics, and The Skater for the Ffotogallery in Wales, 2009, to celebrate 30 years of photographic commissioning. Recent exhibitions include: "Chat Room" (2019), curated by Hining Ye for the 2021 Shanghai Photofair; newly commissioned work "Night Garden" as part of Florilegium curated by Emma Nicholson, the inaugural biennial exhibition marking the re-opening of Inverleith House at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh; "On aime l'art...!!" from the Collection Lambert, in Avignon, France (2017); "Gravitas", curated by Christiane Monarchi for Photo50 at the London Art Fair, 2017; DATA RUSH at the Old Sugar Factory in Groningen for the 22nd Noorderlicht International Photofestival; "Digital Play: Wendy McMurdo Collected Works 1995 – 2012" at Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, as part of GENERATION: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland, a programme of exhibitions across Scotland in 2014. Her short film "Olympia" was showcased by Onedotzero as part of their Future Cities touring programme in 2011/2012. A retrospective of her photographic work was shown at the Institute of Contemporary Interdisciplinary Arts, University of Bath in 2011/2012.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Wendy McMurdo”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q7982725: Wendy McMurdo
General reference · Wikidata
Awards
• Illustration — Helen, Backstage, Merlin Theatre (The Glance) 1996 • Henry Moore Fellow (1993–1995) • Leverhulme Research Fellow (2000-2002, 2010-2012) • Creative Scotland Awards (2002, 2014) • Honorary Research Fellow, European Centre for Photographic Research, University of Wales (2010) • One of the Hundred Heroines by the Royal Photographic Society (2018) • RSA Edinburgh Printmakers Publishing Award (2020)
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Sawa, Dale Berning. Wendy McMurdo's best photograph: two bears eye up a little girl. The Guardian. 2018-08-16. 0261-3077.
- 2.Smyth, Diane. A hundred photographic heroines. www.1854.photography.
- 3.Thompson, J. (1996). "Magical Mystories: Wendy McMurdo at the Site Gallery" mute, Issue 3. Retrieved 16 October 2008.
- 4.Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca - Centro de Fotografia Universidad de Salamanca. Wendy McMurdo. 2000.
- 5.Wendy McMurdo National Galleries of Scotland. www.nationalgalleries.org.
- 6."The Mix: Express Yourself. Programme 2: Wendy McMurdo – Photographic dreamscapes," Channel 4. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
- 7."Wendy McMurdo – The Digital Mirror," National Galleries of Scotland. Retrieved 25 March 2018
- 8.Wendy McMurdo - Indeterminate Objects (Classrooms). thephotographersgallery.org.uk. 2014-01-17.
- 9.Ffotogallery Wales. Wendy McMurdo: The Skater. 2009.
- 10.Behind the Scenes: Insights curator Yining He. Photofairs.
- 11.Davies, Ashley. Florilegium: A Gathering of Flowers — from the seeds of flowers came growth. The Times.
- 12.Art review: Florilegium: A Gathering of Flowers, Inverleith House, Edinburgh. www.scotsman.com.
- 13.Inverleith House reopens in full bloom with 'Florilegium: A Gathering of Flowers' | News & Press | Scottish Art News | Fleming collection. www.flemingcollection.com.
- 14.Collection Lambert. collectionlambert.com.
- 15.Gravitas, Photo50, London Art Fair 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- 16.Hopkins, D. (2014). Digital Play Wendy McMurdo Collected Works 1995–2012. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- 17.Stills centre for photography based in the heart of Edinburgh. stills.org.
- 18.New Media Scotland. mediascot.org.
- 19.Jill Todd Photographic Award. jilltoddphotoaward.com.
- 20.Royal Society of Edinburgh. rse.org.uk.
- 21.Travelling Gallery. travellinggallery.com.
- 22."Children and computers : collected works (1995-2014)," British Library EThOs e-theses online service. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- 23.Wendy McMurdo RSA (Elect), The Royal Scottish Academy, 26/09/2018. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- 24.Brittain, David. Creative Camera: Thirty Years of Writing. Manchester University Press. 1999. 978-0-7190-5805-9.
- 25.Mahoney, Elisabeth. Face the facts. The Guardian. 1999-06-29. 0261-3077.
- 26.Clark, Robert. Haunted images. The Guardian. 1999-04-24. 0261-3077.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
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General reference
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
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Studied at
1- Pratt InstituteOrganisation
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Wendy McMurdo is recorded as having studied at Goldsmiths, University of London, Edinburgh College of Art and Pratt Institute.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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