Timothy McGurr: The 13th Witness | Hypebeast

Schooled in the world of art and graffiti since he was a knee high, Tim McGurr has experienced an upbringing almost comparable to none, yet he maintains a cool vibe coupled with a natural gift for photography. Having already worked on various projects alongside Nike, Japanese Hip-Hop legends Nitro Underground and various other New York heavyweights, McGurr is ready to hit the ground running with an arsenal of skills in digital imaging and film. The comparisons with his iconic father will undeniably always arise yet 13thWitness is clearly redefining the genre on a playing field of his own. I recently got a chance to sit down and chop it up with one of industry’s rising stars, New York native Timothy McGurr.

Interview with Timothy McGurr

Tim, for our readers that aren’t as familiar with your work, can you please introduce yourself?

My name is Timothy McGurr also known as 13thWitness. I started off early doing graphic design and slowly gravitated towards using different visual methods to capture people’s attention. Photography came first, shooting bullshit here and there, more of a means to document my life abroad. All this began while I was around 18/19 years old. I was living in Tokyo at the time, living in my new home away from home. I decided I needed a way to start to show these adventures, my life journey from my eye through the lens to the viewer. As a result the 13thWitness name and website was born, 13thWitness would become my base of operations.

How did that experience in Tokyo allow you more creative freedom than in your hometown of New York City?

I don’t think it allowed me more freedom, but i guess being in a new city at that age was very intriguing to me. The culture and everything, it was new and it brought something different out of me. I also think perhaps in some sense I was able to see more than I would have been able to, had I been in NYC the entire time.

How did the name 13thWitness come about? Is there a special meaning behind it?

It’s a combination of multiple things, most are pretty stupid. At the time I wanted the website name “bearwitness” but that was taken, so after a few tries with other crappy names, 13thWitness popped into my head. I was living on the 13th floor of my apartment building so it stuck, that’s where it all started, Suite 1302.

So you hold multiple titles to your name (Videographer & Photographer), which do you enjoy doing the most? Which took longer to grasp?

Honestly, both came naturally, I’ve always been seriously into movies and photos as I’m a very visual person. I started with still images which led me to jump into the realm of video, always learning and always trying to elevate my level of skill. There are so many talented people out there so it’s not easy making something that people appreciate these days.