Ben Zank was born in the Bronx in New York. At the age of 18 he began taking photographs for fun after he discovered a Pentax ME Super in his grandmother’s attic. And that was the reason to nowadays dedication to art photography.
See also Art photography by Tim Walker HERE!
His self-portraits aim to stretch the viewer’s imagination and express his feelings when words fail. He says: ‘I didn’t go to school for photography. Instead I majored in journalism. As a journalist in school, you find that your own words end up being silenced and in place are an objective and almost robotic narrative that is constantly regurgitated. Consequentially, I found myself bad at expressing my emotions through words. I was good at the rant, but any real meaning about myself was locked deep inside. My photographs are a way for me to abstractly speak my opinion and bring my emotions into light.’
He tells that the process of creation always starts with a lot of frustration. “Then I panic because I haven’t been creative lately and I’m wasting my life. I’ll play video games for several hours or maybe take a walk. Then I’ll see something kind of interesting and return to it with my gear, and that usually involves one or two ruined articles of clothing. I’ll edit for up to 3 days to make sure I don’t miss any problems. Then I’ll be really happy with my new work for a few days. Rinse and repeat.” says the artist.
See also: Underwater art photography by Lara Zankoul HERE!
