lewis chong

It’s difficult to place Ben Weller’s work in just one category. His documentary work is tinged with the editorial poise of a fashion shot. His fashion series’ are streaked with a touching realness, like that of a family portrait or cherished photo secreted away in a wallet. “Good photography is about communication” Ben revealed to us. Narrative too. And after many years of developing his craft Ben’s ability to capture a sense of humanity has become instinctual. Here, he reveals how it all came to be…

ON BEGINNINGS

I came to photography quite late. In my twenties, while working in the City, I had a bit of an epiphany – to change something, to change paths. The last thing I wanted to do was go to university and study something that would lead to a conventional job. Art could be the answer, I thought. Soon I had an interview for a foundation course. I cobbled together a portfolio from work that I borrowed from a friend. The interviewer, she knew straight away. She questioned if it was my work. But, miraculously, I was accepted on the course. She liked by attitude I think. This local art college, it changed my life really.

ON THE EFFECTS OF ART

Suddenly I’d gone from this mundane job to being surrounded by all sorts of crazy wonderful characters. I was so hungry to create that I signed up to everything to try all disciplines. About three weeks in I found photography. Then it all clicked. I had stumbled across this device that I could hold in my hands and almost instantly create the images I had in my mind. The pictures I was making were quite naïve. Very simple work. But I’d found my craft…

ON GROWTH

After my foundation course I didn’t want to get swallowed up in the London university scene, so I decided to go to Brighton. That’s where I found the library. And when I started to contextualise what I was thinking. Here I found books by Bruce Weber, and rediscovered all these pictures I would rip out of FHM or GQ as a kid and stick on my wall, not really knowing what they were – the Calvin Klein Escape adverts, the Ralph Lauren adverts. Suddenly, I had found the person behind the pictures.

ON INFLUENCES

Bruce Weber opened the door to research. He led me to Edward Weston and Walker Evans and all the other great American photographers. It felt quite cyclical really because as a kid, coming from a shitty grey town where not much happened, I’d binge on all these American films. I had this weird fascination with that country. Which I still explore in my work to this day. But looking outside also allowed me to look inwards, and I grew a real appreciation of documentary photographers like Paul Graham, Tom Wood, Chris Killip – these people documenting a real sense of Britishness…

ON HIS FIRST SERIES

In third year I began a documentary project all over South England documenting teenage boxers. I travelled to these gyms on my own, with a camera and flash and little backdrop, and probably shot work then that I revisit now. Very honest portraiture. I’d find a kid that had a nice attitude or something about him – his haircut, his stance, how he’d tucked his vest into his shorts – and I’d photograph him. I wanted to show a softer side to boxing rather than the blood, guts and violence. All these boxing clubs where in lower income areas, so it was a way for these kids to focus their energy and aggression in a positive way. Those pictures were seen by photographer Jason Evans, who I met the year earlier. He introduced me to Simon Foxton at i-D magazine, and the guys there ran a few of my boxing pictures then commissioned me to start shooting pictures for them. Nothing big, just small stills. Or I’d shoot the odd album cover for a small band, just learning my craft and trying to make a few quid. That was how I got into photography.

ON PORTRAITS

Usually I romanticise the image or the person. The subject might not feel proud or strong, but for me, at that moment, they are. I want to show them as they want to be viewed. Or capture what I see in them.

ON FASHION

The fashion authenticates the image. For example, if I’m shooting a story on a farm, then I need to make sure the model isn’t going to be wearing a pair of giant stilettos. It’s about capturing believability. Fashion defines the character. And it takes a very good stylist to bring that sense of realness to set, not just pulling look 12 from Vogue Runway. They need to understand how to make that picture genuine. How real people wear clothes. Good fashion can do that, bad fashion can destroy that sense of honesty. It’s a very tricky area to navigate. I want the character to look like they own those clothes. And at the same time I want the reader, in say Dallas, to want that coat because the girl looks great in it.

ON THE ROLE OF PHOTOGRAPHER

It’s changed. It’s very different to what it was 20 years ago. Obviously now everyone has access to a smartphone and I see some amazing people on Instagram. Like some cattle rancher out in Texas who just documents his life, probably through naïve eyes, but through that naivety and access to a camera he can create some beautiful shots. In a way it’s like outsider art. These people don’t know what they’re doing, they’re not setting out to be photographers, they’re just creating stills from their life. But it doesn’t compare to highly crafted, well-executed photography; photography as a profession, and a craft. You have to know what you’re doing. A photographer isn’t just a taker of pictures, there’s so much more to it – the research, its rich history, and the ability to communicate, to get people to trust you. I’ve been honing those skills over a lifetime. Good photography is about communication, successfully communicating with your subject and your viewer.