'A Dog Called Money', by Seamus Murphy.
Eyes wide open and notebook in hand, this is how it travels Polly Jean Harvey, or PJ Harvey, accompanying the war photographer, Seamus Murphy. The two formed a perfect couple of adventures in three trips they made around the world at different times between 2012 and 2014. The journalistic, poetic and inspiring result was first the singer's album: The Hope Six Demolition Project (2016) and now is this documentary film, PJ Harvey: A Dog Called Money (Theatrical release November 8), directed by Murphy and where we learn a little more about the process of this very real diva.
“I want to go there and smell the place, I want to feel the earth of that place” is what PJ Harvey told Seamus Murphy when they started thinking about her trip. Nobody doubts that the singer likes to take risks, but the photographer, seven-time World Press Photo winner, he confirmed it when she suggested traveling to places not always open to casual tourists and she (almost) did not hesitate.
Polly in Afghanistan
Kosovo and Afghanistan they were the first destinations they chose between the two. Murphy knew them very well. He has both been visiting them since the 1990s, at their worst. In fact, it was at the opening of an exhibition on his work in Afghanistan between 1994 and 2007 that he and Polly (as he affectionately calls her) met.
Then spontaneously Polly, who wanted to write poetry, started composing verses for the Kosovo photo book from the late 90's signed by Murphy. It was then that her music told him that now she wanted to smell the earth of those places.
The streets of Anacostia.
KOSOVO
They were invited to Kosovo, to Dokufest, to screen the short films they made together for Harvey's previous album, Let England Shake. When the contest ended, they stayed in those cold, inhospitable lands, but with warm people despite what they suffered. “In the different places, we perceive among the people the discontent with the present, and the anger and regret for the past”, explains Murphy.
There, Polly discovered another way to travel. “It was one of the things that she liked the most about these trips. She is used to traveling with managers and assistants… maybe not on vacation, but when she travels for work. But it wasn't like that on these trips, in Kosovo we had to sleep in very cheap places because it was the only thing available… and he loved that”, recalls Murphy. “I think because Polly became a star very early on, she was immediately carried around and this movie was a way of escaping from that.”
Kosovo.
AFGHANISTAN
“In 2012 I contacted Polly to see if she wanted to come to Kabul. After thinking about it for a few days (understandable given the destination), she accepted. When she arrived, I continued to work as she always did in Afghanistan. We came across situations that inspired and deeply moved both of us." remember the photographer. In Afghanistan, out of respect, PJ adds another accessory, the headscarf, and they managed to get into places where women were previously not allowed to enter.
As they did in Kosovo, they traveled as a couple of classic reporters. She was observing, taking notes. He was recording and photographing. Each one separately and then they put that material together. Murphy also relearned the trade from him. "I tried to be more observant with this work, not to ask questions," she says. “If you travel with Polly there are no direct questions, we don't interview anyone. We were fellow travelers. A lot of it was just observation, the writer takes notes, the photographer takes photos of her, and then you're amazed at what comes out of their work. The idea is that traveling can be surprising, you want it to surprise you”. In the end, he who ended up using the notes in Harvey's diaries as a common thread in part of the documentary.
The ruins of the war.
“We trust each other, that's why she traveled with me. It wasn't a job about her. He wasn't interested in her, in asking her direct questions. It was more about looking at the grand process behind creating an album. An extraordinary album for how she did it, for the places we went. An opportunity to show the places I go to and show people not as is usually done as victims or the bad guys, they are human, it is a different context, far from that mainstream expectation: Afghanistan equals war. Yes, there is war, but there are wonderful people, I love those moments”.
WASHINGTON D.C.
Afghanistan, Kosovo… why did you choose Washington DC as your third and last destination? "It was obvious to me," says Murphy, "it's a powerhouse. We also thought of New York, but it was more obvious, and we wanted to portray Western power… Decisions are made in Washington DC about places like Afghanistan or Kosovo”. Also, after doing some research, they realized that a few subway stops from the White House was one of the poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods in the United States and the world: Anacostia.
Polly in Washington DC.
“I got mugged in DC. They hit me in the head… They wanted my camera… I had no problems in Kosovo or Afghanistan… It was in DC that Polly felt the most nervous, you can see it on her face, when those guys start rapping, she was very nervous”, Murphy tells.
But even so, they went there by train, alone, they began to walk down its main street. First they enter a barbershop, then a pizzeria and the owner ("A Turk who had lost everything in New Orleans with Katrina") acts as their first guide, introduces them to some of the youth gangs that move there, as Paunie, "overflowing with confidence and charisma, a natural leader."
Of that time with these guys who spontaneously rap, record their demos, PJ Harvey created the song that gives the documentary its name A Dog Called Money and that appeared on his record. An album that PJ ended up recording in his Somerset studio with a live audience... a performance in itself, which Murphy also recorded and those images are mixed with her adventures to compose a travel notebook not only around the world, but also within it.
PJ Harvey and Seamus Murphy in the studio.