Ben Zank in Suit (NSFW)
Sometime ago, in the article Creativity, The Immediate Long Term, I mentioned the new generation of levitating teenagers who play with red smokes and balloons. Maybe 7 years ago when flickr started, some young photographers did the same, creating dream images, most of them neo-surrealistic ones, always self-portraits, in the woods or in abandoned buildings, with flying hand written letters flying away from old suitcases. I did the same too. Most of them happened in a kind of playground challenges between us in a very healthy way. And we got skilled on Photoshop doing so. Meanwhile most of us went to different journeys on photography.
Lately a new invasion of teenagers started doing the same, maybe more colourful, but the same thing we used to do. Nothing new for me, but the power of social network gave them some views, which is great. Creativity should always be supported. What I find is that this new generation stuck a bit on the same. If a well-known trendy photographer uses colourful smoke, immediately there’s a multitude of teenagers using colourful smoke too. It’s not easy to be creative these days, it seems. And there are lots of young photographers doing almost the same. Some are more skilled than others, some with more sense of composition or even better gear or better places to do it than others. Some others, with just a better sense of marketing, or how to take advantage of social network.
by Ben Zank
by Ben Zank
But while some of them seemed to be stuck doing the same after some internet recognition, as if they found the secret formula, others keep experimenting and getting more mature work.
Recently I found an amazing series by Ben Zank: a black and white series called “Suit”. Ben Zank is a 22yo self-taught photographer from NY City.
If you see his history of work he started doing the same, in fact he experimented few other aesthetics. He didn’t stuck in one only, which is great and have its merit. Even though, I think that Ben post most of what he does, without a strict sense, mixing aesthetics, etc, which can confuse a bit, as you can find some of his series more mature than others. But maybe is the so called “artist’s blindness” that I mentioned some time ago: when you’re so emotionally connected to some of your work that you’re not able to see if it’s good or not, so he posts everything, maybe testing himself or the viewers, trying to find his own path. That’s why is so important to have Portfolio Reviews done by professionals.
But this “Suit” series by Ben Zank really called my attention, not only by its quality, but also by the real sense of space, composition, light, direction, message, concept, creativity, etc. It’s good, and very coherent in the whole series. It’s probably the most mature work by Ben. Somewhere I read that Ben Zank is colour blind, so maybe there’s an explanation for why his black and white series seems deeper and more honest, once he’s not worried if the colours are good.
by Ben Zank
by Ben Zank
by Ben Zank
by Ben Zank
by Ben Zank
by Ben Zank
by Ben Zank
by Ben Zank
Take a look at Ben Zank work at his webpage, FB, tumblr, meanwhile here are some photographs of his “Suit” series, and some others in B/W.
some other essays that made 2HeadS even better:
Exhibitions: Go!;
On art-photography, gear is secondary;
What Makes a Good Photograph? (part I);
What Makes a Good Photograph? (part II);
The Conspiracy of the Brain;
The Conspiracy of the Triangle (NSFW).
The Nude: Why? (NSFW);
The Nude: How? (NSFW);
Oneness;
B Shot by a Stranger: Beyond Loneliness;
Un Soir Place de la Bastille;
2013: The Interviews and The Photographers;
An Interview With The Incredible Photographer Gonzalo Benard for MutantSpace;
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March, 2014 by ©Gonzalo Bénard for 2HeadS
follow @GBenard on twitter – Facebook
Portfolio Reviews
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EYEMAZING – The New Collectible Art Photography
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For any other contact about 2HeadS or my Photographic Work, from Art Galleries, Curators, Art Collectors, etc, please use the GBénard/2HeadS email. Thank you.
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Feel free to comment, ask or share any article on 2HeadS everytime you feel that you can add something interesting and positive to the articles.
Very interesting photographs, I especially like the photo of the person looking down at the other person lying on the ground. I’m also a self taught photographer, and as a young individual I’m always looking for new ways to grow my photographic skill (composition, lighting, etc.) and content meaning.
I recently wrote a post about taking a persons last photograph (being the last person to capture a persons image before they die) and what it mean to me. Especially when the person I talk about was someone I deeply cared for.
Now that time has passed since that post and I’ve been getting caught up in my college studies I’ve been finding it more and more difficult to actually shoot more photos and post new projects and ideas online to share. I’d like to think most of my ideas are original, but the older I’ve gotten the more I’ve realized that most of the thoughts by humans have most likely already came to existence in the past. As you said, it’s tough to be original. Especially when there have been billions of people that have lived full lifetimes even before we were conceived. But anyways, I enjoyed your post. Thank you for sharing and I’ll definitely be looking up Zank’s work.
If you’re interested in reading the post I meantioned above here’s the link. http://ravimiphotography.blogspot.com/2014/01/taking-someones-last-photograph.html
hola Rafael! Thank you for your comment and I must say that I loved your Pura’s series. I’m glad you left the link here! That was a really intense-deep work you did there.
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
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