The only thing I knew about cryonics – preserving bodies at freezing temperatures in the hope that scientific advancements will bring about eventual resuscitation – was that Walt Disney had opted for it.

But according to photographer Murray Ballard, that’s an urban myth.

“That was all I knew about it too, but I’ve since discovered it wasn’t the case,” says Murray. “When he died, in 1966, it was a time of scientific advancement, with talk of Moon landings and cryonics. Disney was interested in modern technology, and a story about him having his body frozen got out. It was what people wanted to believe.”

Murray, 27, was a photographic student at Brighton University when he embarked on a project exploring cryonics. It turned into a fascinating five-year journey of discovery, taking him from a seaside town on the south coast of England to hi-tech laboratories in Arizona and snow-covered cemeteries in Moscow.

His photographs, which include a body wrapped in a sleeping bag moments before being frozen, are the focus of an exhibition, The Prospect Of Immortality, which premieres in Bradford next month.

It started with a newspaper article. “I’d been looking at the relationship between photography and death – we use the same phrases, like ‘frozen in time’, to describe both,” says Murray.

“Then I read an article about a French couple whose bodies were frozen in their cellar. The experiment failed because the freezers broke and the French government ordered them to be buried, but it got me researching cryonics.”

Murray discovered a couple from Cryonics UK living in Peacehaven, East Sussex.

“They had sheds and garages full of medical equipment they’d adapted. They told me about centres in America where bodies are in cryostasis – stored in liquid nitrogen – and it went from there,” says Murray.

“I discovered this tiny international community dedicated to cryonics. There are only three places worldwide where a body can be ‘frozen’ and only 150 ‘patients’. A further 1,500 people are signed up.”

Murray visited each centre – two in America and one in Russia – and was given unprecedented access to a little-known world.

“It’s a very dedicated, private community – understandably, since they’re subjected to ridicule and derision,” says Murray.

“They were extremely generous and open with me, probably because I approached them as just a young photography student. The equipment I used – a large format view camera with 4x5in film plates – was very obvious and I took posed portrait photos which had an element of trust involved.”

While seeing bodies preserved in liquid nitrogen “in a kind of thermos flask, with a vacuum between a glass fibre wall” was surreal, Murray focused on his task. “With photography, you get so locked in you’re not too affected by what’s around you at the time,” he says.

Last year, Murray returned to the Russian centre, at Alabushevo near Moscow, and photographed bodies being transferred to a preservation unit.

“Several of the patients’ families came and spent time with them. It was very moving,” he says. “At the facilities I visited in America, people leave flowers and notes, like they would at a grave.

“The first person to undergo the process in Russia was a ‘neuro patient’. While the woman’s head is preserved in liquid nitrogen, her body lies in a cemetery in another part of the country. I photographed her daughter visiting the grave.”

He adds: “It’s still early days in Russia, but there’s a dedicated band of young people involved in cryonics and a lot of money going into it. It has the potential to grow quickly.”

Murray says the cryonics procedure begins as soon someone is legally declared dead. “Cryonics UK has an ambulance adapted with equipment to transport a body in low temperatures, preventing physical decay,” he says.

“The body is literally covered in ice cubes and transferred to cryostasis storage in a custom-made ‘cool box’. Bodily fluids are drained and replaced with anti-freeze to prevent cells breaking up.”

Murray’s exhibition takes an objective stance, allowing the viewer to consider the ethics of cryonics and decide whether those taking part are fantasists or are furthering scientific innovation.

“Some cryonists I met think resuscitation could be possible in 50 to 100 years,” he says. “We’re constantly pushing the boundaries of science, technology and understanding how the body works. If you think about things like cloning it doesn’t seem like a huge stretch of the imagination.”

Surprisingly, while some cryonists Murray spoke to were certain it would work, most weren’t.

“Some are sceptical, but feel it’s a better alternative than being buried or cremated,” he says. “The feeling is that if there’s an outside chance that you can carry on living, what’s the point of not trying?”

Alongside fascinating representations of the technical process, Murray has included in his exhibition recorded conversations with people he met at the facility in Phoenix, Arizona, offering a human dimension.

At the other American centre in Detroit, Michigan, he met Robert Ettinger, a college physics teacher who introduced cryonics to the world with his 1962 book, The Prospect Of Immortality. Murray used the title for his exhibition.

“He seemed disappointed that his ideas haven’t been taken up on a wider scale,” says Murray. “He’d expected a lot more people to be interested by now.

“Death unites us all, but the idea of preparing for death isn’t very appealing. It’s not a new concept, though – the ancient Egyptians buried their dead in tombs, preparing them for an afterlife.”

Would Murray opt for cryonics? “I’ve thought about it,” he says. “The other myth, apart from the Walt Disney one, is that it’s only for the wealthy. Prices vary, but someone of my age could save for it through an affordable life insurance policy. I’m not signing up right now, but I’ve had moments when I’ve thought it makes sense.”

Murray’s investigation became a personal journey of discovery. “Whatever you feel about cryonics, it inspires discussion about immortality, which is something we’re generally in denial about,” he says.

“One of my reasons for doing this was that cryonics is an extraordinary subject that warrants being taken seriously. We know so much about so many things, but we don’t know much about this.

“My exhibition merely presents my investigation. It’s not the definitive guide to cryonics.”

The Prospect of Immortality runs at Impressions Gallery, Centenary Square, Bradford, from June 10 to September 3. Murray will be at the gallery talking about his work on Saturday, July 16, at 2pm.