Murray Fredericks is an internationally-recognised and multi-award winning artist and filmmaker. Graduating with a Bachelor of Politics from the University of Sydney in 1992, Fredericks subsequently spent extended periods travelling alone in the Himalaya and Middle Eastern deserts. During this time he became aware of the profound effect that time spent in isolation – particularly in powerful landscapes – can have on the mind and one’s sense of self.

In the almost 20 years since, Murray Fredericks has taken prolonged solo journeys to isolated and extreme locations, to produce large-scale photographs that capture the overwhelming emptiness and powerful emotional resonance of remote land and sky. His highly-acclaimed Salt series commenced in 2003 and has seen the artist complete more than 20 trips to Lake Eyre–Kati Thanda in South Australia, living alone for up to five weeks at a time. A conceptual exploration into the emotional qualities of ‘space’, the original Salt series has been exhibited and acquired by major institutions and galleries worldwide, including: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; the Australian Parliament House, Canberra; the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra; Horsham Regional Art Gallery, Victoria; and many prestigious private and corporate collections.

In 2008, the ABC commissioned Murray Fredericks’ first feature documentary – a film based on the Salt project recording the artist’s personal narrative and artistic practice at Lake Eyre. Fredericks was cinematographer and co-director and released the film, also titled Salt, the following year to wide acclaim. Salt won twelve major awards, including the Camerimage 'Golden Frog' for cinematography; Silverdocs/AFI/ Discovery ‘Jury Prize’; International Documentary Association ‘Best Documentary’; ‘Best Short Film’ Melbourne International Film Festival; and also received two AFI nominations. The film played over 70 festivals internationally and screened on the ABC and PBS in the USA.

Murray Fredericks’ other major projects include Icesheet (2013), an intrepid journey to the Greenland icecap, Hector (2011-16), striking black-and-white photographs that convey the dramatic weather systems of the Tiwi Islands, Northern Territory, Vanity (2017), a series in which mirrors interrupt the endless and ethereal horizons for which Fredericks has become known, and Array (2018), an extension of his otherworldly exploration of mirrors in the landscape.

Murray Fredericks has exhibited widely, including a major Australian landscape survey exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, 2012; two solo shows at the Australian Centre for Photography, 2010 and 2015 respectively; and four solo shows at Hamiltons Gallery in London. His work has been acquired by important public and private collections internationally, including the National Gallery of Victoria; Australian Parliament House; Australian National Portrait Gallery; Artbank; The Sir Elton John Collection; Macquarie Bank; Commonwealth Bank; The Myer Collection; The Valentino Collection; and a number of regional galleries across Australia.

Murray Fredericks has been the recipient of numerous awards and is a regular finalist in Australia’s top photography prizes. In 2015, he received the People’s Choice Award for the Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, was runner up in the Head-On Festival Landscape Prize, and a finalist in the JUWS Photography Award.

2019
Witness, ARC ONE Gallery (Pop-up), Sydney

2018
Murray Fredericks: Vanity, Robert Mann Gallery, New York 2017 Vanity, ARC ONE Gallery, Melbourne
Salt: Vanity, Hamiltons Gallery, London

2016
SALT, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville.
DYE2 (Video Installation), Geelong Regional Gallery

2015
Origins, ARC ONE Gallery, Melbourne.
DYE2 (in collaboration with Tom Schutzinger), Australian Centre for Photography.

2014
Recent Work, Hamiltons Gallery, London
Topophilia, Annandale Galleries, Sydney.

2013
Topophilia, ARC ONE Gallery, Melbourne.

2012
Salt, Art Factum, Bierut.
Hector, Hamiltons Gallery, London.
Salt, FotoFreo, Fremantle, Western Australia.

2011
Hector, Annandale Galleries, Sydney.
The Salt Project, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney Arc One Gallery.
Trace, ARC ONE Gallery, Melbourne.

2009
Salt, Hamiltons Gallery, London.
Salt, ARC ONE Gallery, Melbourne.
Salt, Adelaide Festival Centre.

2007
Salt, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney.
Salt, Hamiltons Gallery, London.
The Biscuit Factory, The Museum of Sydney.

2006
Salt, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney.

2003
Tasmania Glacial Remnants, Point Light Gallery, Sydney.

2001
Patagonia y Altiplano, Point Light Gallery, Sydney.

2022
Sydney Contemporary, ARC ONE Gallery, Carriageworks, Sydney

2017
Fotográfica Bogotá, Museum of Photography, Bogota, Colombia
Sydney Contemporary, ARC ONE Gallery, Carriageworks, Sydney
From the Darkness...., Horsham Regional Art Gallery, Victoria.

2016
Australian Pavillion, Dubai Photo

2015
Inside the Dome (DYE2): Murray Fredericks and Tom Schutzinger, Geelong Gallery
The Significant Other, ARC ONE Gallery, Melbourne.
Winter Season, Australian Centre for Photography.
Sydney Contemporary, ARC ONE Gallery, Carriageworks, Sydney

2014
Luminous Cinema, SAMSTAG Museum.
Fictions, Queensland Festival of Photography, Brisbane.

2013
Polyseme, Annandale Gallery, Sydney.

2012
Geomorphometries, Queensland Centre for Photography.

2010
Paris Photo, The Louvre, Paris.
How Nature Speaks, ARC ONE Gallery, Melbourne.
Stormy Weather, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
The Lake, Lake Macquarie Regional Gallery.

2009
The Lake, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney.

2008
Salt, Hamiltons Gallery, London.
Salt, Boutwell Draper Gallery Sydney.

2007
Salt, Boutwell Draper Gallery Sydney.

2006
Salt, Paris Photo, The Louvre, Paris.
Landscape, (Salt) Eastlink Gallery, Shanghai.
Shoot the Chef, Art Gallery of NSW.
Head On, Australian Photographers Gallery.

2004
Masters of Fare, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra.

2015
Winner, Peoples Choice Award, Bowness Prize, Monash Gallery of Art
Finalist, Head On Landscape Prize (2nd place)

2014
Finalist Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award.
Finalist Moran Prize, Sydney.

2013
Photography Achievement Award, ACMP.
Finalist Foxtel Documentary Prize, Sydney Film Festival - ‘Nothing On Earth’ Documentary Film.
Finalist Head On Landscape Prize, Sydney.

2012
Finalist Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award.

2011
Finalist Blake Prize, Sydney.

2010
Winner, Landscape Category, Australia’s Top Photographer Awards.
Winner, Jury Prize, National Geographic Award, Flickerfest.

2009
ABN Amro Emerging Artist Award.
Australia’s Top Photographer Finalist (Art, Architecture & Landscape).

2008
ABN Amro Emerging Artist Finalist.
Australia’s Top Photographer Finalist (Art & Landscape).

2009 Established Artist Grant, Australia Council.

2010
Best Cinematography, Byron Bay International Film Festival Special Jury Mention, National Geographic Award, Flickerfest
Winner, Creative Excellence, Banff

2009
Best Documentary Short, Atlanta Film Festival, Atlanta
Erwin Rado Award, Best Australian Short Film, M.I.F. Festival Best Cinematography in a Documentary, AFI Awards
Best Editing in a Short Film, Australian Screen Editors Guild Australian Documentary Prize, Sydney Film Festival
Australian Documentary Prize, Sydney Film Festival
Best Documentary under one hour, AFI Awards

2013
BBC Monosoon, BBC Natural History Unit, time-lapse & camera Nothing On Earth, ABC/Screen Australia, DP

2011
First Footprints, ABC/z-Arte, timelapse specialist

2009
Salt, ABC/Screen Australia, co-director/DP

National Gallery of Victoria
Australian Parliament House Collection
ABN Amro Collection
Macquarie Bank Collection
National Portrait Gallery of Australia, Canberra Museum of Sydney
Myer Collection
Sir Elton John Collection
Artbank, Sydney
Parliament Art Collection, Canberra
Valentino Collection
Commonwealth Bank Collection
RBS Collection
Private collections nationally and internationally.