In Conversation with Zora J Murff
American Mother, 2019. Courtesy of Zora Murff.
The Necessary Machinery of Survival (Lincoln Heights, OH), 2025. Courtesy of Zora Murff.
When the Department of Art welcomed its 2025 student cohort, it also welcomed a new Assistant Professor of Art, Zora J Murff. Murff comes to Oregon from the University of Arkansas, where Murff was an Assistant Professor at the School of Art in 2018. Murff was also the School of Music and Fine Arts Endowed Professor of the Practice in Photography at Tufts University since 2023.
A highly-regarded photographer, curator, and educator, Murff’s expertise and creative pedagogy are a welcome addition to the department. Murff’s familiarity with the photography program at the university didn’t start as a faculty member, he was interested in the program as a student.
“I actually considered applying to grad school here; it’s always been considered to be a very competitive program to get into, “said Murff. “I think that’s a good sign of a desirable program. What especially drew me here was the department’s interdisciplinary focus, which suits my practice, given that I’m also deeply interested in the social functions of photographs and image culture at large.”
Murff’s pedagogy involves interrogating social and cultural constructs—including forms of domination and oppression like race or the punishment bureaucracy—and to grapple with how photography is used as a technology to perpetuate imperialist intentions and desires.
“It’s great to see that there’s a pathway to create interdisciplinary connections. Given that my work is in part about race and representation, I see the possibilities of building connections with Black students, staff, and faculty at the university including the Black Studies Program and the Lylle Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center.”
Dreamin' through A Contradiction, 2025. Courtesy of Zora Murff.
Born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1987, Murff graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Iowa State University. Following that graduation in 2010, Murff took a job as a tracker for a county juvenile diversion service in Cedar Rapids while studying photography at the University of Iowa. His work with the children would lead to his inaugural photo series, Corrections, which served as his final Bachelor of Art project and as a monograph in 2015.
When looking for the next stop in his educational journey, Murff strongly considered the MFA program at UO. While Murff enrolled in the MFA studio art program at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, he met UO Professor of Art and photographer, Ron Jude, who would eventually influence Murff’s decision to come to the university.
“I actually met [Ron] when I was in grad school, he came and had a show at the museum there, the Sheldon Museum,” said Murff. “And then of course the photography area gets to do studio visits with him and during that meeting, we really hit it off. It was an exciting prospect knowing that I would come here and get to work with him.”
Murff is an artist with extensive teaching, exhibition, and professional experience in the photography field. Murff has exhibited nationally and internationally at galleries and museums, including his upcoming show “Race/Hustle” at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA). His work has been featured in publications like the Wall Street Journal and Sotheby’s Magazine.
Gas Money (Affirmation #1), 2019. Courtesy of Zora Murff.
The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971), 2024. Courtesy of Zora Murff.
An Escape Route, A Delineation Between Black and White, A Divide Between North and South (Tulsa, Oklahoma), 2021. Courtesy of Zora Murff.
Murff’s photography is nationally lauded, having recently won the 2023 Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism Infinity Award and the Next Step Award, and is held in collections across the world. These include the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Denver Art Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, among others.
Murff’s first monograph, Corrections, was a visual exploration of a system that too often fails its charges, the disenfranchised youth who are left behind and often uncared for. These images were captured from 2013 to 2015 and published as a monograph in 2015 with Aint-Bad Magazine.
Murff has also published three additional books, Lost, Omaha (Kris Graves Projects, 2018); At No Point In Between (Dais Books, 2019); and True Colors (or, Affirmations in a Crisis) (Aperture, 2021). He is also a published critic, with pieces in Dear Dave, and MoMA’s online editorial platform, Magazine.
Murff’s first course at UO is his Intro to Photography class, with many more planned to come. The newest faculty member of the Department of Art is eager to leave his mark on the university’s artists and academic community.
“I see a lot of potential for various collaborations through teaching, research, service, and community building. Please reach out if you’re also interested in building something great.”
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Zora J Murff (b. 1987) is an Oregon-based artist and educator attempting to help facilitate liberation from anti-Blackness. He uses his creative practice to aid in consciousness raising to the material conditions created inside of the prism of imperialism. He uses provocative imagery and practices photography expansively, stretching it across disciplines to create relational opportunities between the self and the visual. He strives to speak plainly about visual culture and its entanglement with race, capitalism, and other forms of exploitation and domination.
Murff has created multiple books of his work including his latest monograph, True Colors (or, Affirmations in a Crisis) published by Aperture Foundation. His work has been widely exhibited and collected by institutions like the Museum of Modern Art, LACMA, Studio Museum in Harlem, and the V&A Museum. His upcoming exhibition RACE/HUSTLE opens at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in December 2025.
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31° 7’ 25.94” N, 81° 33’ 22.45” W, 2020. Courtesy of Zora Murff.