Ben Hopper's Blog

Here’s an interview I’ve done for UNDR RPBLC Magazine for their April / May 2012 issue (#16).
For original interview & rest of magazine go here.

Big Ben!
Wehey!

How are you?
I’m tired after a long night on a little job, but I’m now snuggling in my gf’s bed, so all’s good.

Who are you really?
When I was about 17 I realized I wanted to be an artist. I’ve been doing some experiments with it lately. I’m a 29-year-old guy who grew up in Israel and moved to London when he was 26.

How’s London?
London’s great. Too cold TBH. I wish I could do more outdoor shoots, but anyone I photograph (without clothes) will freeze to death after 10 minutes here. Other than that, London is treating me well.

Care for a spot of tea?
I prefer coffee, but it starts getting to me… I think. After 15+ years my body starts to go EW after 2 coffees a day.

How long have you been shooting?
Officially/obsessively/using a DSLR since the summer of 2007.

Why did you select these photos for your feature?
They are selections from 2 exhibitions I now have in London; WickED Circus @ Jacksons Lane and Circle at Circa @ artsdepot.

What initially drew you to photography?
I was working in a trade company specializing in photography equipment back in Israel. I was managing the imports, and after almost 3.5 years I got fed up and quit. Having had access to cost prices I bought a Nikon DSLR and it came naturally, so I’ve kept on going with it.

Where has photography taken you?
All over the place. I’ve gotten to know some of the most amazing people and places – not sure I could have ever otherwise, but a camera (luckily) opens a lot of doors. I’m also getting more and more commissions that include traveling abroad so that’s great. I LOVE traveling.

What have you done with the fake ‘Ben Hoppers’ running around perpetrating?
Really I am Ofer Benin, which is like Robert Zimmerman for Bob Dylan.
Ben Hopper is the same thing – just an easier name for non-Israeli people to pronounce. Benin Ofer = Ben Hopper. It started as a joke years ago, but after using it on Myspace and FB it emerged into reality.
When I decided to go with Ben Hopper instead of Ofer I had to get a proper domain online, benhopper.com was taken and the best alternative I could come up with was therealbenhopper.com. I realized if I’m not a ‘real’ Ben Hopper, then fuck it, I might as well just go all the way. It also sums up my approach to life; do not take things too seriously. People think that it’s my business name, ‘the real ben hopper’ – it’s a website name

Where are you going?
Anywhere where I’ll be happy.

What would you do for a Klondike Bar?
I just googled that – so I guess not that much – although it kind of looks interesting!

Any sentiments towards Photoshop?
Yes, I’d be really careful though, you don’t want it to look like a ModelMayhem or an advertisement. Otherwise, I wish I had a full time retoucher. CAN’T STAND sitting in front of a monitor, it kills me.

What’s your camera of choice?
At the moment my main is a Canon 5D Mark II. I’d like to get a medium format, something with blasting 60MP would be nice.

How does working with video compare to photography for you?
I’m hoping to do more video in the near future. I prefer directing rather than operating the camera when it comes to video. I want to focus more on the creative, as opposed to the technological side.

What would you like to do more of (generally speaking)?
I’d like to travel more, go snowboarding and hit up festivals all over.
I’d basically love to do all shit I’m doing now on a larger international scale.

Of all your work, do you have a favorite?
I don’t really know. I was trying to find one going through my website yesterday, but I couldn’t.
It seems as if I can’t see anything with ‘iconic/classic/timeless’ characteristics in my portfolio. Not yet.
Maybe in 5-10 years…

When you get up, what do you do to calm yourself down?
Masturbate.

When you get down, what do you do to bring yourself up?
Reminding myself that either; broken hearts are for assholes, or that our purpose in life is to be happy. Cheesy, I know, but it’s the goddamn truth!

Why?
Well, sometimes I do just cry all night, but don’t tell anyone I said that.

Why ask why?
Dude, I don’t know – but you just got a pretty heavy confession there so…

Where do you see your work heading?
Going back to what I want to do more of in general; on a larger international scale.

Who are your biggest influences?
All of my personal work is stuff I’m attracted to. This is influenced by a variety of things that are constantly changing on a daily basis.

Do you have any upcoming shows?
There are 3 exhibitions coming up at the moment. 2 solo and 1 group all in London. They are all about contemporary circus photography and a part of The Roundhouse CircusFest (a London theatre that dedicates all of April to contemporary circus shows):
13 March – 29 April/WickED Circus @ Jacksons Lane (solo),
28 March – 29 April/FEDEC’s Circle shows at Circa Festival 2011 @ artsdepot (solo),
28 March – 29 April/Social Circus @ Roundhouse (group).

More info on my Blog/FB/Twitter.

Have you had any professional training?
I was assisting 2-3 photographers for few months in Israel before I moved to London at the end of 2008. Nothing serious. No college. No Uni.

What do you want out of life?
My good friend Remco always says; “I don’t want to be right, I just want to be happy.”

Are you doing what you love?
I’m trying.

What’s next?
Sex. Then world domination.

Is there anything that I’ve missed?
Too many things, so little time. Let’s try another one in few months ;)

Any shout-outs?
See mum? I told you I shouldn’t have studied in school.

Yin&Yang Blog interviewed me recently.  You can read it all below (Read original post on yinnyang.co.uk)

A Chat With The Real Ben Hopper

If you have an interest in photography then you may have already heard of or seen work from Ben Hopper. Originally living in Israel, he’s a London based photographer and his work spans many styles. I met up with Ben for a chat recently, read the full interview below where he talks life, inspirations and upcoming projects!

Introduce yourself!
I’m Ben hopper and I’m a freelance photographer, living in London. Lately I’ve been doing a lot of photography around contemporary performing arts, burlesque dancers, and circus performance. It’s quite a big network so I’m really tied into that, but it’s starting to evolve into other visuals like film and interactive arts. That’s me in a nutshell at the moment.

Talk us through how you became Ben Hopper the photographer?
Well when I was 15 I started playing the guitar, by 18/19 I became pretty good. I would play anything from jazz to rock- taking private lessons. But then I had to join the army in Israel (my homeland) and so I didn’t have time to practice. After the army I started doing different kinds of jobs until I ended up working for a company dealing with imports and exports of photography equipment- one of the largest in Israel at the time. I was the PA to the CEO and it was a really intense full time+ business job. I did it for about 3.5 years till I was 25. It pretty much ruined me, it took all of my spare time, and I didn’t have a life! After 3.5 years I wanted to leave but my boss was adamant on making me stay as I became a key player in the company. But anyway I managed to leave and since I always liked photography, I thought I would just get myself a nice Nikon DSLR and started taking photos.One of my friends’ was also experimenting with photography at the time and we both had this goal of becoming fashion photographers. So we decided to pool our heads together and start out with wedding photography which would enable us to save some money and get some lighting equipment and get into fashion photography. We started a business together doing events which went really well up until we started to fall out. We were really good friends but when money got involved…it screwed up our relationship and business.I always wanted to leave Israel so as my photography started to pick up I decided to move to London and become a photographer here.

Must have been tough moving to whole new surroundings and not knowing anyone!
I’ve always been a big networking whore so by the time I got to London, some people had already known about me and liked my stuff plus I knew few people who lived here. That is where I stayed when I moved.

Who were some of your first clients when you came over?
The first job I did was 2 weeks after I arrived, I did an editorial for a digital magazine- i’m not sure if they are still around. It was called Supersweet We did a fashion editorial in Aldgate.

My London friend Sarah Jane, she introduced me to Torture Garden and that was a big turning point for me at the time and influenced where I took my photography. It was their Halloween party and I remember thinking ‘wow I have to photograph this party’. So I came back and did the Christmas party and since then I’ve had a good relationship with the people at Torture Garden and that whole scene behind the club.

Also, I was introduced to a girl called Mayka Finkelstein Amrami, she’s a really cool artist- a designer and an illustrator. She works at the Royal Opera doing all the costumes for the ballet- she did a video installation and wanted stills, so I did them for her. Couple weeks later we worked together again and produced some work which ended up in Kurv magazine.

Sounds like you did alright for yourself there! What were some of the challenges you faced as a freelance photographer?
Well honestly, the real challenge is just making sure I have enough money to pay bills… I usually prefer to do personal work but every now and then you have to branch out. I try to make money off my personal work by selling prints or getting them exhibited. So yes it’s just the challenge of making sure that you have enough work all the time.

What would you say has been your most successful project?
Definitely ‘Naked Girls with Masks’…well it got the most attention and quite obviously because it is literally naked girls…

Can you tell us a bit about the project and how it came about?
I did a photoshoot back in 2009 with a girl called Cat Chappell – had this idea to photograph her and her girlfriend standing next to each other holding hands, Cat was ok but her girlfriend wasn’t too comfortable so we ended up playing around with masks. Cat has a big tattoo on her back, so I got her to have her back to me wearing the mask back to front; I thought it would make a really cool photo.  So later on I Met up with two guys who run Act Art and they wanted to me to submit something to their exhibition which was about censorship, so I showed them the photo I did with Cat and said I would do an entire exhibition based on that…they were happy with it! And that’s really how it happened.

What has been your favourite project?
I don’t really have a favourite but I did a project called ‘Nightlife’ which is a compilation of photos I have taken at parties over the last three years; mostly in alternative, gothic and burlesque clubs. At the time I was just having fun and meeting new people.

At the moment I’m working on one called ‘Natural Beauty‘ and this one is about beautiful women with long armpit hair- it has a lot of cultural saying and it’s about personal preferences. I also really enjoyed ‘Naked girls with Masks’.

So what’s on the horizon, any future projects?
Naked men with masks! Also other stuff with masks, might not all be nude though. Perhaps one will be a scene in a restaurant where everyone is naked and wearing masks.

You really have a thing for masks….
Haha! I just want to experiment with masks! There is another in the pipeline actually…without masks. I’ve been working on a project where I will get illustrators to take my photography and play around with it using their skills to create a whole new composition. That’s quite exciting for me because I don’t draw, illustrate or paint but I have always wanted to. I can do a bit of typography but I always wanted to know how to illustrate. So in a way it is a way for me to do that- I’ve been looking at illustrators from around the world so if anyone is interested…

Sounds interesting, maybe we’ll do some Yin&Yang x Ben Hopper pieces! You mentioned before that your work is “starting to evolve into other visuals like film and interactive arts”. Is this something you’ll be working on soon?
There will be short feature films and music video clips… that’s all I can say at the moment

Cool, we look forward! Tell us what you think makes a good photographer?
That’s a really difficult one! There are so many photographers and everyone has access to a camera- you need to do more than just technically take photos, you need to understand. I think you also need to be original, edgy and honest. Recently I decided that I am only going to photograph for myself and not think too much about what people will think- perhaps being controversial can be a good thing. As long as my work makes me happy. It’s also really important to know how to deal with clients- this shouldn’t be the way but you have to be quite business minded.

Any photographers out there that you like their work?
There are loads but these ones pop straight into my head, make sure you Look them up!

Manuel Vason
Tim Walker
Storm Thorgerson
Sarah Sitkin
Phillip Toledano
Sølve Sundsbø 

So what advice can you give to anyone looking to become photographer?
The most important thing is to do things that you love…if you don’t want to photograph weddings, then don’t! Within reason though… bills are not going to pay themselves!

Thanks for the interview Ben, you’ve been great! Got any exhibitions coming up that we can pop down to?
My pleasure! Yes, there are 3 exhibitions coming up this month and April. 2 solo and 1 group, all in London. They are all contemporary circus photography and a part of The Roundhouse CircusFest (a London theatre that dedicates all April 2012 to contemporary circus shows)

13 March – 29 April / WickED Circus @ Jacksons Lane (solo)

28 March – 29 April / Circle at Circa @ artsdepot (solo)

 28 March – 29 April / Social Circus @ Roundhouse (group)

Introducing Circle at Circa, A photographic exhibition from FEDEC’s Circle shows at Circa Festival 2011 (Auch, France), now premiering at artsdepot from 28 March to 29 April as a part of The Roundhouse’s CircusFest 2012.

(3) Laura Renic @ Circomedia (Bristol, UK)

(2) Leonardo Sivira, Baptiste Raffanel and Romain Verstraete @ Lomme (Lomme, France)

Right: (5) LJ Marles @ Circus Space (London, UK) / Left: (6) Guilhem Cauchois and Sarah Tessier @ National Circus School (Montreal, Canada)

(1) Jakob Beffa – Vonau @ Staatliche Artistenschule Berlin (Berlin, Germany)

(4) Jak Rees @ Circomedia (Bristol, UK)

Right: (7) Harm Van der Laan @ Codarts (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) / Center: (10) LJ Marles and Lucas Boutin @ Circus Space (London, UK) / Left: (11) Jakob Beffa – Vonau @ Staatliche Artistenschule Berlin (Berlin, Germany)

(12) Yohann Fradette-Trépanier @ National Circus School (Montreal, Canada)

Right: (13) Harm Van der Laan and Maartje Bonarius @ Codarts (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) / Left: (14) Maude Arseneault and Mikael Bruyère-L’Abbé @ National Circus School (Montreal, Canada)

(9) Jakob Beffa – Vonau @ Staatliche Artistenschule Berlin (Berlin, Germany)

(8) Marie Lebot-Ruel and Virginie Gerbeau @ Châtellerault (Châtellerault, France)

Circa Festival has been inviting Circle, an international showcase of up and coming circus artists to take part in the festival for the last five years. Through these Encounters, FEDEC (the European Federation of Professional Circus Schools) encourages exchanges between current and future circus artists. At this annual gathering, the work of 12 schools from the FEDEC network from Europe and beyond is shown through 20 – 30 minute original performances, created with their students during research and creation workshops.

Prints are available for purchase:

A5 (148.5x210mm) £25
A4 (210x297mm) £50
A3 (297x420mm) £95
16″x20″ (406.4x508mm) £130
A2 (420x594mm) £180
A1 (594x841mm) £345
A0 (841x1189mm) £545

All C-type prints, printed on Fuji Crystal Archive Matt paper.
Limited edition of 15, signed and numbered.

A0 (841x1189mm) signed paper black & white prints available at £20!

Payment can be made via Bank transfer to UK bank or PayPal.
Contact me for more details including full set of images for preview: info@THEREALBenHopper.com

The exhibition is FREE and will be on display from 28 March to 29 April.

Address:
5 Nether Street
Tally Ho Corner
North Finchley
London N12 0GA

Map / Directions on artsdepot.co.uk

A0 black & white paper prints made by and supported Staples

The space at artsdepot

Note: I’ve been having tech / server / database problems with my regular blog at therealbenhopper.com/blog/ over the last few weeks.
Please bear with me as I’m finding a solution for this.
Meanwhile you can stay updated with my work on FB / Twitter / Tumblr / Flickr (Twitter & FB = daily updates)

Introducing WickED Circus, a collection of photographs capturing Circus Space acrobats on rooftops made last December in London’s Hackney Wick, now premiering at Jacksons Lane.
The show is on display as a preview from 13 March – 28 March and continuing to display as a part of The Roundhouse’s CircusFest 2012 from 28th March - 29 April.

The pictures were taken as a part of a demonstration shoot with Mamiya Leaf’s 80 Mega Pixel Aptus-II 12. A separate post about the actual photoshoot including a behind the scenes video will be made soon.

Prints are available for purchase:
A5 (148.5x210mm) £25 / A4 (210x297mm) £50 / A3 (297x420mm) £95 / 16″x20″ (406.4x508mm) £130 / A2 (420x594mm) £180 / A1 (594x841mm) £345 / A0 (841x1189mm) £545
All C-type prints, printed on Fuji Crystal Archive Matt paper.
Limited edition of 15, signed and numbered.

A0 (841x1189mm) signed paper black & white prints available at £20!

Payment can be made via Bank transfer to UK bank or PayPal.
Contact me for more details including full set of images for preview: info@THEREALBenHopper.com

The exhibition is FREE and will be on display from 13 March to 29 April.

Address:
269a Archway Road
London
N6 5AA

Map / Directions on jacksonslane.org.uk

Opening hours:
Monday Closed
Tuesday 10.00 – 22.00
Wednesday 10.00 – 22.30
Thursday 10.00 – 22.00
Friday 10.00 – 22.00
Saturday 10.00 – 23.00
Sunday 10.00 – 17.00

Pictures of the prints installed Jacksons Lane:

Credits:
Camera Leaf Aptus-II 12 (80 Mega Pixel) on Mamiya 645DF with a V-Grip Air vertical handgrip.
Lights Profoto‘s AcuteB2 heads powered by Pro-B3 1200 AirS and D1 Kit powered by a BatPac.
Acrobats Jonathan Finch, Billy George, Lj Marles, Lucas Boutin, Nathan Price, Isis Clegg-Vinell, Beren D’amico, Conor Neall & Louis Gift (thanks to Tim @ Circus Space).
Assistants Nick Redman, Richard Evans-Lacey
Prints A0 black & white paper prints made by and supported at Staples

More:
WickED Circus on jacksonslane.org.uk
WickED Circus on roundhouse.org.uk
Circle at Circa Exhibition @ artsdepot, 28 Mar – 29 Apr

Note: I’ve been having tech / server / database problems with my regular blog at therealbenhopper.com/blog/ over the last few weeks.
Please bear with me as I’m finding a solution for this.
Meanwhile you can stay updated with my work on FB / Twitter / Tumblr / Flickr (Twitter & FB = daily updates)

I’ve been having tech / server / database problems with the blog here at http://therealbenhopper.com/blog/ over the last few weeks.
Please bear with me as I’m finding a solution for this.
Meanwhile you can stay updated with my work on FB / Twitter / Tumblr / Flickr (Twitter & FB = daily updates)

Ben x

Last Sunday (Feb 5) it snowed in London.
Around 3am, I went up to the roof of my building in Hackney Wick (East London, right next to the Olympic Village) and took these long exposure images:

By the way, I had some problems with my blog over the last week or so due to a Yahoo server change. It is working again. Hopefully won’t have problems again.

If you happen to be in Milan, Italy on December 1st, you should go and check out this One night sale + Exhibition by Unpublished Magazine.
I’ve donated one print which will be published on the 3rd issue as well.

The picture is from my IN A BOX series and is titled “Two Girls Inside A See Through Dress”:

Two Girls Inside A See Through Dress

Unpublished is a cool independent art photography magazine that operates from Milan.

For more details read on:

Unpublished ISSUE#03
One night sale + exhibition
December 1st, 2011 h.6:30 pm – 11:00 pm
Le Dictateur Gallery – via Nino Bixio 47, Milano

A simple and straightforward layout, an awesome format, no advertising, 500 hand numbered copies and a free and selected distribution.
Unpublished – Best unseen photography – is an independent publishing and artistic project aiming to promote and disseminate contemporary photography outside the traditional channels linking artists to art-dealers.
Unpublished is a democratic and exchange place where art meets the public, without any filter. Unpublished gathers the best unpublished images of young authors from all over the world, selected not only for their aesthetic value, but through a careful analysisof the cultural context, the artistic and human paths. It’s also a challenge, a glance exploring the future to spot the talents and the artistic trends that will soon be showing in the best galleries of the whole world.
A large project that ends each edition of Unpublished with an evening presentation, in which it will be possible to buy at affordable prices the original and signed prints of the published works, assessed by the artists themselves. No intermediaries, no galleries and outside the market logic.

Unpublished is a ‘call for freedom’, a pure and direct line that connects the artist and his work with the outside world. And vice versa.

One night sale + exhibition flyer

Marnie Scarlet by Ben Hopper

I’m VERY EXCITED about this picture of London performer Marnie Scarlet. Which will be revealed for the first time at the Mexico Siniestro group exhibition in Resistance Gallery (265 Poyser Street, London E2 9RF. Nov 3rd, 7:30pm-12am).

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=278046975548774

There’ll be two print editions available for sale (and pre-sale) both signed by myself and Marnie:

1. A2 (420x594mm) @ £250
2. Signed postcard size 5×7″ £25

Both sizes are limited edition of 25.
C-type prints on Fuji Crystal Archive paper

To buy / info pls email me: info@therealbenhopper.com

Steve Jobs in his cubicle. I liked the 'THINK' poster in the back.

Few days after he died, I’m still reading people’s reactions with tears in my eyes. It’s funny, I became so anti-consumerism over the last two years but Apple was always so holy and untouchable. So many friends laugh at me when I go to the Apple store; “oh, you’re going to the shrine…”.

When I was a kid in Israel, an architect friend of my dad had a Macintosh computer. This must have been around 1990 and I think (looking at wikipedia) it was the Macintosh Classic. Back then it looked like a super computer to me. Computer who only designers and super accomplished creative people could even own.

Macintosh Classic (1990)

When I first moved to London at the end of 2008 I bought my first Apple computer, a MacBook Pro 15″ (first black keyboard model). Through all my life I’ve been a PC user but always dreamt of having a Mac. Then, a year later I got the iPhone 3GS.  It’s the “once you go Mac you can’t go back” thing – they’re just that good.

Thing is, with his dreams, Steve made us all dream too. We dreamt of having these products and when we finally got a hold of them, it was truly a dream come true.

His aesthetics inspired me and will inspire me forever in my own work.

RiP Steve Jobs. Here’s to the crazy ones:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rwsuXHA7RA[/youtube]

The Illustrated is a personal project by Ben Hopper; a collaboration of photography, illustration, graphic design and typography.

I’m calling all Illustrators, Graphic Designers and Typographers where ever you are – if you like any of my photos and would like to play around with it / mess / fuck it up – however you want to call it.

Find the picture you like on my website (http://therealbenhopper.com/), drop me an email (info@therealbenhopper.com) with a copy of the photo, your details (including a link to your portfolio) and if I like you I will send you a Hi Res so you can take it from there. Simple.

Part ONE
Creating a body of work and sharing it with the world.

Part TWO
Creating dedicated specific work rather than a pile of scattered random mixed collaborations. Something that is a mutual interest for both of us, something that we both care about or can debate on together, expressing different opinions that’ll merge into one piece or series of works.
Obviously, I can then produce a “customized” series of photos for you to work on.

Part THREE
Going commercial; We’re going to reap just what we sow.
Getting commissioned to create dedicated sets of images for commercial/editorial work. Publishing the work in print & online magazines / blogs. Exhibit and sell prints. Make a book …you see where I’m going with this.

Some examples:
“Painstaking Vectors” was done by British graphic designer Alex ‘Twiy’ Chappell, “See You in My Nightmares” was done by a French graphic designer GZA and Ilan Baffet is an Israeli illustrator who works in the CGI industry and beyond.

Painstaking Vectors by Alex 'Twiy' Chappell

Katerina by Ilan Baffet

Sarah Block by Ilan Baffet

See You in My Nightmares by GZA

This set of 3 images of London piercer, Grace Neutral, is now available for sale. It can be purchased as a set of 3 or individually.

Grace's Back

Grace's Legs

Grace's Pelvis

Print: C-type
Size: 50x50cm
Price: £650
Signed by both myself and Grace Piercer
Limited edition of 5

Contact to buy: info@therealbenhopper.com

All proceeds go to mine and Grace’s pockets so we could make more like those.

Thomas Truax & Mr.B The Gentleman Rhymer

I’ve taken a list of my favourite music and narrowed it down to 85 different groups and artists I like. This way, when I’m talking to Record Labels and Magazines, I can just send them this list and they can get a better idea of my taste and preferences; what I’m passionate about and who to send me to work with. The more I like the music, the better the photos:

Amanda Palmer, Amon Tobin, Animal Collective, Aphex Twin, Audioslave, Autechre, Beach House, Beastie Boys, Beck, Beirut, Belle and Sebastian, Bishi, Boards of Canada, Bonnie Prince Billy, Bonobo, Daft Punk, Daniel Johnston, Death Cab For Cutie, Department of Eagles, Deus, Devendra Banhart, Edward Shape & the Magnetic Zeros, Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra, Feist, Fionna Apple, Fleet Foxes, Flying Lotus, Gentle Mystics, Gogol Bordello, Goran Bregovic, Interpol, Jaga Jazzist, Jason Webley, Joana And The Wolf, Kimbra, Kings of convenience, Mice Parade, Moby, Modeselektor, Money Mark, MOONDOG JR, Mumford and Sons, Nada Surf, Neil Young, Nick Cave, Night Ark, Outkast, Patrick Wolf, Paul Simon, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Peter Gabriel, Pinback, Pixies, PJ Harvey, Portugal. The Man, Pretty girls make graves, Putilatex, Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Regina Spektor, Rufus Wainwright, Saian Supa Crew, Scissor Sisters, Sebastien Tellier, Shugie Ottis, Sigur Rós, Talib Kweli, Talking Heads, The Ascetic Junkies, The Avalanches, The Avett Brothers, The Band, The Books, The Dresden Dolls, The Flaming Lips, The Mars Volta, The no smoking orchestra, The Presidents Of The United States Of America, Thom Yorke, Thomas Truax, Tom Waits, Vampire Weekend, Venetian Snares, Weezer, Zita Swoon…

Jarmean?

Amanda Palmer

Department of Eagles

Joana And The Wolf

PS The full list has 350 different names in it and I’m sure I missed loads. The narrowed list was to sum up what’s more relevant. Of course I like Bach and Thelonious Monk …Thom Yorke is just more relevant

Grace Neutral

Texture by Erik Natzke

SPECIAL ‘AUGUST ONLY‘ OFFER: Portfolio photos at £100 (instead £200)

• Daylight photo session
• One hour
• 5 high resolution retouched images

Notes:
Additional photos can be purchased at £5 per image.
2 hour studio session is available at additional £150.
Makeup artist and hair can be added at £50.

Contact for more details: info@therealbenhopper.com. 

NY BODY ART is a New York blog that concentrates on tattoo culture. They were especially interested about my photography of London based piercer and tattooed girl, Grace Neutral, which I also used for the Modern Panic exhibition last June.

Interview

One day Ben Hopper got a great deal on a camera and went to Europe to start taking pictures.

It sounds as simple as the start to nearly any photographer’s career. Technical simplicity is so far a theme; his work as of now consists mostly of his camera and whatever space, light, and settings he can find or create. When you look at his photography, particularly his outdoor work (and especially when he took pictures of naked girls in big and sometimes scary masks), his technique effortlessly translates into warm, eye-popping, ethereal, dream-like, and moody photos. They look, of course, anything but simple. Given his laissez-faire attitude towards the natural, it’s curious and very fun that he finds body art and modification fascinating for tattoos, piercings, and other forms of body art take natural, untouched human skin and transform it into a canvas.

Though he admires a lot of work with elaborate sets (one photographer’s style he notes is that of Annie Liebovitz) and aspires to create that kind of project in the future, he won’t do anything to subtract from the natural beauty that can be captured in the photograph. He wants it to “still be real” and not overly post processed.

“There’s a thing I don’t like about overdone pictures – I just can’t buy that. I look at the picture and if a person does something that is just overdone or it’s too staged, you pick up on that. It’s not genuine. There are a lot of pictures I look at in magazines or wherever and I’m just like, ‘This is bullshit because it’s not real.’ The model was just doing a face and can’t act. It needs to be real.”

A heavily tattooed woman is becoming more common in mainstream society and in widely broadcast media. Unfortunately, there is still the idea that a woman with tattoos has lost some of her feminine beauty because a good portion of her femininity per society’s view is based upon how beautifully she has preserved and displayed her skin tone and texture.

Ben’s new series “In a Box” is an aside from the outdoor and on location settings, but not the raw and untouched technique. It’s a studio, but it isn’t. A model of particular interest from this shoot is Grace Neutral, a body piercer at Pure Ink London, and very tattooed lady. In her photographs, Ben manages to exhibit a strong and expressive tattooed woman, yet one with undeniable femininity and natural beauty.

“THERE’S A THING I DON’T LIKE ABOUT OVERDONE PICTURES – I JUST CAN’T BUY THAT —BEN HOPPER”

 

You’ve done mostly minimal equipment photography. You have a new series, “In a Box.” Is this more of a studio type of shoot for you, right?

“No. In a Box was inside of my house with nothing. They were all just kind of test shoots I’ve done in my house. That’s why I called it “In a Box.” It’s just a selection of shoots that I’ve done here without much equipment, usually just with one light or just available light. Maybe just an on camera flash. Something like that. And that’s it.
I’m probably going to move my own space in September, so I’ll finally have my own place to work on. So, I thought that [this project] would be an interesting retrospective to look on.”

How did you meet Grace?

“I met Grace through a mutual friend and she said, ‘You should meet Grace because she’s amazing and you’d love to photograph her.’ Yeah, that’s it.”

You photograph a lot of girls with interesting and intricate tattoos but you really like to photograph Grace. What about Grace’s tattoos did you find interesting? Were her tattoos inspirational for you?

“Grace? I don’t know. The thing is, I just really enjoyed photographing her. She’s very easy to get a long with. Ideally, everyone I that I photograph, if I could photograph them ten times at least, I’ll be happier. If you only have five minutes, that’s the most horrible situation. You always want to have as much time as you can because it’s very hard to get an essence of someone if you have limited time. With Grace it somehow happened that we had already done about four shoots, you know, just kind of random and spontaneous stuff. She’s very cool and laid back. She’s just amazing. She’s just very quiet and very polite.”

 

Grace Neutral

 

So, demure?
“Reserved? Modest? Yeah, that’s her.”

It’s interesting. She’s very demure, but she appears as if she were bold and outgoing. She has very expressive tattoos.

“Yeah. She’s just like that. She’s very humble and shy, kind of embarrassed. You’ll compliment her and say, ‘Oh, you look amazing!’

She’ll be very quiet and softly say, “Oh, thank you!” She reminds of the way they said Jimi Hendrix was. He’d be a beast on stage and then when you spoke to him he’d be very polite and quiet. There was this recent shoot we did with her. She used to do ballet. She told me, ‘The biggest thing on tumblr right now is pictures of tattooed girls in ballet shoes! We have to do it!’”

You have so many beautiful women with all of these beautiful tattoos. A lot of people would say this takes away from their beauty or defaces them.

“One of my favorite visual things in photography is contradictions. Having a contrast or a conflict. So, for example, take a beautiful girl and put tattoos on her. Take a beautiful girl and put a mask on her. Put an ugly mask on her. You know, I really like that kind of aspect of taking something that is commonly known as beautiful but bringing in another thing that is considered kind of ugly, random, or weird creates kind of an awkward situation. It brings a lot more impact to the final results. It makes you question everything.”

 

Authenticity and a true essence of a person in his photography is definitely not lost. Throughout all of his work, Ben has undoubtedly managed to capture true and raw beauty with his photos of a tattooed culture that is not considered conventionally beautiful.

Go here to see the original post on NY BODY ART.

Did you ever want to buy a print of a photo that I’ve taken but only wanted to spend £10?
Well, now you can.

‘Support for Print’ is a new venture I’m launching in the hope to enable me to focus on developing more of my personal projects. With ‘Support for Print’, I am offering a chance to support with ANYTHING (from £10 upwards) and reward you with a print of your choice.

You can choose ANY picture you like from my collections and I will send it to you signed, no matter where you live in the world.

How does it work?
1. Make your desired contribution from £10 using PayPal (button below).
2. Once the contribution has been made, choose any picture from the collections on my website (THEREALBenHopper.com), save the picture off my website to your hard drive and email it to me at therealbenhopper@gmail.com.
Be sure to mention your required picture size, type of print, postal address and of course the amount contributed+when+your PayPal name – so I could spot & verify it on my PayPal account.
3. Receive my signed print!

Supporting with	Reward Print Size (in Inches)
£10	6×4″
£10-15	7×5″
£15-20	8×6″
£20-25	10×8″
£25-30	12×8″
£35-40	15×10″
£40-45	18×12″
£50+	30×20″
*Signed Photo Paper Prints
£25-£45	6×4″
£45-£65	7×5″
£65-£85	10×8″
£85-£105	12×10″ / A4
£105-£200	16×12″ / A3
£200-£300	20×16″ / A2
*Signed & Numbered Fine Art C-Type Prints from a Limited Edition of 50
£250-£750	30×20″
£750+	50×30″
*Signed & Numbered Fine Art C-Type Prints from a Limited Edition of 25

 

Notes
- Shipping anywhere in the UK = free shipping.
- For shipping to Europe (outside the UK): Please add £5.
- For shipping anywhere else outside the UK: Please add £10.
- Combinations are accepted (for example: £30 – can be translated 2 photo prints of 7×5” or 3 photo prints of 6×4”. It can also be 1 Fine Art C-Type 6×4” Print).
- At the moment, contributions are only accepted in GBP (Pound sterling).

My immense gratitude goes out to all those that have shown their support.
Ben Hopper x

More about ‘Support for Print’
A big part of my photography involves self-assignments, collaborations and personal projects.

During 2010 I started a series called Naked Girls with Masks. I photographed more than 20 different models in more than 20 different locations around London and Brighton, in the UK. Every picture had a different mask borrowed from someone who either made it or bought it. Some masks were purchased too. All of the models were photographed fully naked, mostly outdoor.
10 images from the series exhibited in London at the ACT ART group exhibition in July 2010 and it got featured in Bizarre Magazine’s September 2010 issue. Along with countless bloggers who wrote about it and posted images from the series online, I had hundreds of thousands of viewers visiting my website and blog from all over the world since July 2010.
The whole project wasn’t sponsored and it was created with my own money and the dedication of all the participants who helped and gave their time and bodies for something they thought was cool and wanted to be a part of. None of the models were paid and they all volunteered to do it. As far as I’m concerned, they all need to get paid at some point… somehow.
Naked Girls with Masks is ongoing and I am planning to start photographing Naked Men with Masks as soon as possible. I am also planning to travel around the world and document different cultures with their associated masks.

The positive feedback I received during and after creating this series, made me realize this is what I want to do – I want to work on my own personal projects… I want to collaborate with people and to be able to exhibit my work and work from project to project. Needless to say the Masks projects are the tip of the iceberg and alongside those, there are dozens of other exciting things being planned on a daily basis.

Sadly, the reality is different and having started working my way into the gallery world just two years ago, I still have a few more steps to take before I have “the name” to enable me to make enough money from selling prints alone.

However, this is where YOU can help; you can help me continue working on my own personal projects with anything from £1!
Any contribution above £10 will reward you with a signed print!

What is Fine Art Prints?
Broadly speaking Fine Art Prints are defined by the following criteria – images printed to the highest quality on long-lasting paper with archival inks; they are individually supervised, signed and numbered by the artist, severely limited in number (the edition) and derived from original artwork. They will hold colour true for at least 100 years, provided they are kept indoors and out of direct sunlight.

Main differences between Fine Art and Photo Paper prints
While Fine Art Prints, include lithographs, screenprints, etchings, etc., are a quintessential medium within contemporary art and one of the principal forms of artistic expression, Photo Paper Prints are simply a mechanical reproduction of an original artwork.

All Fine Art Prints are created in limited numbers. I sign and number each piece. The Photo Paper prints are only signed, not numbered.

Fine Art Prints are printed with quality ink on archival or other artistic papers. A Photo Paper Print is generally printed on a standard glossy or matt paper with standard ink and generally deteriorates quicker.

Fine Art Prints have the potential to rise in value. On the other hand, most Photo Paper Prints will rarely do so. In fact, a large portion of contemporary art auctions is dedicated to Fine Art Prints.

This film was shot over a period of 2 days using a Canon 5D Mark II during the 18th Israeli Juggling Convention in Gan HaShlosha (Israel) back in April this year.

It has some of the world’s current best jugglers who came to perform at the convention and was edited by Ori Roth who’s a juggler himself and known for his ‘Happy Oree Friends’ juggling videos on YouTube.

Performers in this video:
Bram Dobbelaere
Jordaan De Cuyper
Sander De Cuyper
Eric Longequel
Stefan Sing
Florent Lestage
Matt Hall
Nino Mertens
Gab Bondewel

I just spent a couple of days in Brighton (UK) working on a personal project called ‘Natural Beauty’.

Here are 3 pictures I really liked. They had nothing to do with my project but I couldn’t help but posting them. They were taken late at night on Monday at Preston Park Rock Garden.

Update, Monday 18th July, 2011:

Keep shopping, everything is ok!
It seems like G+ TOS are OK. They are not stealing your copyrights like I thought they do.
After publishing this blog post I received various responses. Two interesting ones were on my G+ wall by David Schlesinger and Chris Zissiadis. They both disagreed with my claim and David refereed me to this PetaPixel post explaining how legally, the G+ TOS actually makes sense and does NOT “take our copyrights from us”, but rather just borrowing a variation of it to be permitted to have whatever it is on their services. The PetaPixel post also had a link to this post by photographer Jim Goldstein who explains it even more.

I also asked my friend who studied Copyright Law for her opinion, and later on I received her reply supporting the above as well.

To sum up, it seems to have been an unjustified FUD this time. All Social Media use similar TOS which in short, insures them it’s ok to post our work on their websites. In other words, we maintain all of our copyrights, and agree to publish it on their website (be it G+, FB, Twitter etc).

I am going to put my work back on G+ now, but I am happy I raised this issue and made people aware. Until next time, stay alert!

PS, The only true advice both David, Chris …and myself can give you is: ALWAYS upload LOW RESOLUTION. And if still in doubt, don’t upload at all.

Original post, Sunday 17th July, 2011:

If you’re a creative of any kind who has visual content, this post is related to YOU. Please share this post every way you can.

Many of you who recently joined Google+ didn’t actually realise Google+ have a very interesting paragraph on their Term of Service titled “Content license from you“:

11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.

11.2 You agree that this license includes a right for Google to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.

11.3 You understand that Google, in performing the required technical steps to provide the Services to our users, may (a) transmit or distribute your Content over various public networks and in various media; and (b) make such changes to your Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that Content to the technical requirements of connecting networks, devices, services or media. You agree that this license shall permit Google to take these actions.

I, as a photographer, was terrified when I saw this. It reminded me of how Twitter pictures host company TwitPic tried to “cash” on its users on May 2011 – causing me to immediately stop using TwitPic and start using yfrog instead. TwitPic did change their TOS after a wave of anger and account cancellations but it is still claiming pretty much the same.

Following all of the above, I’ve decided to take action and remove all of my photography from my Google+.

Instead, I have re-uploaded all of my pictures with the following text on them:

Please join my fight against Google+ TOS and force them to change it. Please delete all of your work from Google+ and instead upload this text on your images (click here to download zip with PSDs) or just this image:

More info about this issue can be found on this Washington Post article.

PS While I was writing this post I received this tweet from @jlego: “Have those people looked at the FB TOS? It’s worse! It’s got the word “sub-licencable” in there to describe the licence you give.”

- Seems like we have an even bigger struggle. Ben x

Last Sunday (19th July, 2011), I was invited by Chisenhale Dance Space to come and photograph an event called Oh So Totally Rad.

Here are some pictures:

The event was one big inspiration injection. I am so happy I took part and got to know some of the artists. I will defiantly try to create more work in the future with some of the people who were involved making this wonderful day.

From the event quote (I will try to get the full program from Chisenhale and post it here):
“The UK dance landscape is full of artists that are not represented by formal venue structures but make incredible, frightening, brave, radical, infectious, and ridiculous work. We believe that Chisenhale is a place that has a historic duty to push at, pull through or set fire to current aesthetic trends!

Oh So Totally Rad is a day of work from artists selected from across the UK for their sheer guts, unorthodox ideas, use of new technology or ability to focus on the future.

Join us for a day of performance, encounters and discussions as we try to fix the unfixable and provoke the unprovoked-able.

This event is a co-production between Chisenhale Dance Space and avid member Joseph Mercier. The day includes a panel discussion featuring: Andy Field (Forest Fringe), Martin Hargreaves (Dance Theatre Journal), Luke Jennings (The Observer), Bryony Kimmings (Chisenhale Dance Space), Joseph Mercier (independent artist) and Louise Mochia (Bellyflop)“.

From a review by Luke Jennings for The Guardian (read on The Guardian):

Off-radar and unfunded, the Chisenhale Dance Space is the nearest thing London has to an underground dance scene. According to curator and performance artist Bryony Kimmings, best known for her solo pieceSex Idiot (about catching chlamydia), the space is a home for “experimental, brave, queer, inventive, weird and fucked-up new work”. It’s as good a description as any of Oh So Totally Rad, which asks whether dance can still be radical in an age when the transgressive is just one more consumer choice.

In Diaghilev on the Beach, former Boston Ballet dancer Joseph Mercier presents a reworking of Nijinsky’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, set to Debussy’s score. Mercier locates the piece at a balmy poolside, where two cocktail-sipping, harem-panted Nefertitis (Sarah Cattrall and Natalie Clarke) indulge their slave (Mercier), who is costumed in golden briefs and a jewelled dog collar. As Clarke languidly oils her breasts, Cattrall leads Mercier around, occasionally permitting him to lick her feet, and alternately stroking and slapping him. Nijinsky’s 1912 work ends with the faun shuddering in orgasm over a scarf stolen from a nymph, and a century later Mercier references the critical reaction (“filthy and bestial”, according to Le Figaro) by having Cattrall lubricate a butt plug attached to a jewelled animal tail, and insert it in her slave’s proffered rectum. It’s a startling moment, and even among the too-cool-for-school Chisenhale crowd occasions a quiet intake of breath. But the piece works. It perfectly reproduces the timeless languor of the original, it matches it in provocation, and in Mercier’s assumption of the most abject characteristics of the Faun and the Golden Slave from Schéhérazade(another Diaghilev sex-ballet), pitches reverberant questions about the dominant-submissive relationship of performer and audience.

More abjection in Quasi, when Andrew Graham appears in a mid-thigh pink dress and, to Miles Davis’s “Flamenco Sketches”, proceeds to make up his face into a video camera. Discovering an old leather jacket (was it a lover’s?), he begins to worship it. But it soon takes on a life of its own, strangling him and clawing violently at his red-frilled knickers. Before long, in a reverse tribute to the Michael Powell film Peeping Tom, Graham has been erotically impaled on his video tripod.

In Daniel Somerville’s Oh! England, the choreographer appears as Elizabeth I, a terrifyingly rouged and raddled creature who sings in a counter-tenor voice. As the strains of Purcell are replaced by the patriotic swell of Parry’s “Jerusalem”, the Elizabethan robes are torn off to reveal an England football strip, with blood splatters forming the cross of St George. The 16th century is a recurrent theme. Nicholas McArthur’s The Dancing Plague of 1518 references a mysterious outbreak of dancing-to-death that occurred in Strasbourg. Set to Gregorian plainchant and electronic trance music, the piece takes the audience out into the streets, finding parallels between religious ecstasy and club culture, and more broadly, capitalism and psychological distress. In mary queen of scots got her head chopped off… Iona Kewney gives a characteristically extreme performance, hurling her sinewy body into a series of headstands, convulsive back-arches and feral spasms as, amid a blizzard of feedback, Joseph Quimby lays down power chords on an electric guitar. Is Kewney’s anti-choreography radical? Are any of the 10 pieces? Probably not, in that all stem from existing traditions. However, in the age of the upscale corporate-sponsored art event, it’s good to know that someone’s asking such questions.

Last Sunday saw the final performance of the Royal Ballet‘s Romeo and Juliet season at the O2 arena. With its rock concert-style close-up screens, the production was a huge success, and in case the company repeats it, here are my suggestions. Go as a gang, travelling to and from the venue on the O2 Express riverboat, a magical experience as night falls. Eat and drink as you watch: there’s nothing like beer and pizza to get you in that vendetta mood, although spicy chicken wings might be the way to go if they do Swan Lake next year. Feel free to cheer, boo and weep convulsively.

I was moved to do none of these things at Cocteau Voices. Duet for One Voice is a dancework by Aletta Collins, set to a powerful soundtrack by Scott Walker, and based on a Jean Cocteau sketch about a love affair between an older woman and a bored younger man. Here, Collins uses three male and three female dancers to dissect the relationship but the result, while technically accomplished, is over-artsy and ultimately unengaging. It’s twinned with Cocteau’s La voix humaine, an operatic telephone monologue in which a woman (Nuccia Focile) desperately tries to save another dying affair. The orchestral playing of the Poulenc score is superb, but the Italian soprano can’t act, and you end up sympathising with her departed lover.

So (one of) the current kicking trend(s) is TUMBLR.
I started using mine back in July 2010.
If you’re a creative and you’re not on Tumblr I think you should!
The amount of inspiration I find there is outstanding!

So much I have decided to open a dedicated Tumblr for the posts I like and inspired of.
If you’re wondering what’s on my mind and sometimes where I get my ideas from, my ‘inspiration’ tumblr is one place where you can find some hints and more.

Here’s the ‘regular’ Ben Hopper Tumblr (NSFW) @ benhopper.tumblr.com:

Here’s the Inspiration for Ben Tumblr (NSFW) – warning, some of the stuff here is *ahem* naughty! @ inspirationforben.tumblr.com:

“Growing up and having started photography in sunny Israel, I got used to shoot a lot of my portraits outdoor, on locations. London is a bit limiting, to say the least, weather-wise. I photographed a lot of my test-shoots inside my small flat in North West London. Having no private studio to hand – I’ve tried to make the best of it. The process of being a photographer at the beginning of his career made me think that these photos, which I’ve taken throughout the past two years, could make an interesting collection – especially in a few years time when l’ll be working in my own dedicated space. This is a preview of a series I call In a Box” – Ben Hopper

Caitlin Dribbling #IAB CS 008101

Grace Neutral's Legs #IAB GN 008201

Grace Neutral's Body #IAB GN 008202

Rachel's Black Face #IAB RB 008301

Rachel's White Face #IAB RB 008302

Stella Stellaris' Hair #IAB SS 008401

Sophia Disgrace On The Bed #IAB SS 008501

Two Girls Inside A See Through Dress #IAB TG 008601

Download press release here. (Zip file contains: Ben Hopper promo image – Grace Neutral.jpg / In a Box photo-series by Ben Hopper Press Release.pdf / Modern Panic Artist List.pdf / Modern Panic Press Release.pdf / Modern-Panic-Press-Flyer-Web.jpg)

These images are a preview of a whole series which I will post online in the near future. The 8 images above, which are displayed at Modern Panic (details below), were selected from about 20k pictures I’ve taken in the last two years.

(© 2008-2011 Ben Hopper)

Buying Prints

I am selling 2 types of prints from this series at the moment:

1. 30×20″ photo paper posters @ £95
2. Fine Art Giclee prints. Limited Edition of 8; all signed & numbered. (printed on Hahnemuhle German Etching paper).

Prices / sizes:
5″x7″: £35 (or £200 for set of 8 / £25 each).
A4 (8.3″x11.7″): £145
A3 (11.7″x16.5″): £300
A2 (16.5″x23.4″): £410
20″x30″: £485

• Shipping is available worldwide from London, UK.
• Payments can be made via PayPal or Bank Transfer.
• For orders please contact: info@therealbenhopper.com

5x7" Fine Art Prints for sale at Modern Panic Exhibition

5x7" Fine Art Prints for sale at Modern Panic Exhibition

5x7" Fine Art Prints for sale at Modern Panic Exhibition

MODERN PANIC Group Exhibition

If you’re in London this weekend, you can still catch prints of these images on display at the MODERN PANIC group exhibition by Guerrilla Zoo (opened on June 4). The exhibition closes on Sunday the 12th so it’s your last chance to check that out along with a unique and powerful collection of over 50 surreal, controversial and provocative modern artists from around the world.

OPEN TO PUBLIC: SAT 4TH JUNE – SUN 12TH JUNE 2011, 11am – 7pm. @ The Old Abattoir. 187-211 St John Street, Clerkenwell, London EC1V 4LS (MAP). Nearest Tube/Train : Farringdon / Barbican / Angel. More info about the exhibition: http://www.guerrillazoo.com/modern-panic/

Pictures from the opening night (June 3rd, 2011):

My prints at Moden Panic (Picture by Dafydd Owen)

My prints at Moden Panic (Picture by Paul Douglas)

Pictures by RJ Fernandez

Picture by Dafydd Owen

For more pictures from the opening night you can visit Dafydd Owen or RJ Fernandez’ & Paul Douglas on londonist.com.

Very happy to be a part of project by Seattle based commercial photographer / director / “super-blogger” Chase Jarvis called Dasein: An Invitation to Hang taking place at the Ace Hotel in Manhattan, New York this month.

Here’s a little blurb about the project: Dasein: An Invitation to Hang is part of an interactive, month-long artist in residency at the Ace Hotel New York in celebration of the snapshot. It was conceived as a living, breathing, interactive work of social art.

The photos are being printed and displayed on a changing wall of about 300 images. From Chase’s posts I’ve managed to see about 11 images of mine that were hanging on the wall. Here they are:

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m very happy to be a part of a very interesting group exhibition opening on June 4 in London.
I will be previewing a new series called IN A BOX.

More details below:
“Growing up and having started photography in sunny Israel, I got used to shoot a lot of my portraits outdoor, on locations. London is a bit limiting, to say the least, weather-wise. I photographed a lot of my test-shoots inside my small flat in North West London. Having no private studio to hand – I’ve tried to make the best of it. The process of being a photographer at the beginning of his career made me think that these photos, which I’ve taken throughout the past two years, could make an interesting collection – especially in a few years time when l’ll be working in my own dedicated space. This is a preview of a series I call In a Box” – Ben Hopper

(© 2008-2011 Ben Hopper)

Previewing at MODERN PANIC group exhibition by Guerrilla Zoo. A unique and powerful collection of over 50 surreal, controversial and provocative modern artists from around the world.

“So all of a sudden, we can think that we are capable of everything, we are hate and love, and we are panic” – Fernando Arrabal / “The chief enemy of creativity is ‘good’ taste” – Pablo Picasso

OPEN TO PUBLIC: SAT 4TH JUNE – SUN 12TH JUNE 2011, 11am – 7pm.

Private View (with live art) – Friday 3rd June 2011. Adv Ticket or By Invitation Only

@ The Old Abattoir. 187-211 St John Street, Clerkenwell, London EC1V 4LS (MAP). Nearest Tube/Train : Farringdon / Barbican / Angel

Download press release here. (Zip file contains: Ben Hopper promo image – Grace Neutral.jpg / In a Box photo-series by Ben Hopper Press Release.pdf / Modern Panic Artist List.pdf / Modern Panic Press Release.pdf / Modern-Panic-Press-Flyer-Web.jpg)

More info about the exhibition: http://www.guerrillazoo.com/modern-panic/

Seattle based photographer Chase Jarvis made me feel very good about being a photographer last week.
Chase wrote a post Read the rest of this entry »

Due to requests I keep this going on until the weekend of April 15th. Special ENDS on April 18th.

SPECIAL 29TH BIRTHDAY EDITION PRINT SALE.

Here are the 4 sizes and prices:

A4 (21x30cm) £29.00

5″x7″ (13x18cm) £20.00
12″x16″ (30x41cm) £50.00
20″x30″ (50x75cm) £120.00

Naked Girls with Masks 30×20″ at £310 each (instead £620)

Read the rest of this entry »

(More images from both Traces & Psy shows taken at Peacock Theatre will be posted on the blog in the coming days! Subscribe by Email to be notified).

Following the previous post of the first collaboration, I’m happy to post the second London collaboration with performers from the contemporary circus Montreal based group The 7 Fingers (Les 7 doigts de la main).

Took part in this collaboration:
Naël Jammal
Florent Lestage
Olga Kosova

These are some selected images from the second collaboration in Green Park:

Naël Jammal

Read the rest of this entry »

(More images from the 2nd collaboration and the show will be posted on the blog in the coming days! Subscribe by Email to be notified).

In the summer of 2010 I got introduced to Florent Lestage, one of the performers from the famous contemporary circus Montreal based group The 7 Fingers (Les 7 doigts de la main). The 7 Fingers were touring with their new show Psy. They were performing at Peacock Theatre. I ended up photographing the show for 7 Fingers but I also managed to do 2 quick collaborations with the performers from the show in London.

Took part in this collaboration:
Naël Jammal
Will Underwood
Julien Silliau
Florent Lestage
Tom Chaton
Mohamed Bouseta
Olga Kosova

These are some selected images from the first collaboration in Trafalgar Square and South Bank:

Naël Jammal

Read the rest of this entry »

There are three projects I’ve been working on and wanted to give a little preview here.
All three have nothing to do with each other but I’ve been working on all of them for the last two years or so. All three are also still on going.

Natural Beauty

The first one is called “Natural Beauty“.
In Natural Beauty I’m pretty much capturing beautiful women …with armpit hair.
The idea behind this concept is to perhaps make people reconsider the norms for our current idea of feminine beauty. I’m trying to mix a very clean classic model-lookalike females whom you’d never expect to have armpit hair – so the result is sometimes very confusing as most of us will consider the look of female armpit hair very raw, unhygienic and even dirty or disgusting. Being captured in a subtle and sometimes semi-erotic nature gives the final result an intriguing quality that hopefully will provoke new way of thinking – maybe even a hair revolution(?)

In the picture below you can see Amanda Palmer who, compared to the other participators in this project so far, might be a little less “delicate” and/or “feminine” looking – yet, she’s leading a growing niche of alternative thinking through the world of music and punk cabaret. To me, she’s one of the most amazing and beautiful women I know.

Read the rest of this entry »

VERY excited to finally have a proper website online. Have a look on THEREALBenHopper.com.

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I just got interviewed on KeepwobbliN.com (by WoBBLiNBEttY.com):

Hello beautiful people! Today I’m very excited to introduce you the work of Ben Hopper, the “HOTTER-THAN-WASABI up-and-coming London-based fine art photographer”.
He created a lot of buzz around himself a few months ago when he launched the serie: “Naked girls with masks”, a bold bodily communication, a parody of the self-censorship we all succumb to everyday. The serie features nude models wearing surprising, comical, and sometimes grotesque full-head masks. “You’ve heard of masked balls… but these shots are all about masked boobies! (…) a parody of the way in which human beings usually present themselves, they beg the question – why do we reveal our faces, yet hide our bodies from view? And what happens when that arrangement is turned on its (masked) head?”
Reading about this project lit me up with curiosity about Ben and his work and in no time at all I was contacting him to with a few questions about his vision and inspiration. And, why not?, some hot tips about London’s nightlife! Read the rest of this entry »

Why do we cover our bodies but display our faces?

Naked Girls with Masks is bold bodily communication, a parody of the self-censorship we all succumb to everyday.
A photo series by Ben Hopper.

I am happy to post NEW pictures from my series Naked Girls with Masks (including pictures from the shoot in Brighton; beautiful on set videos and images here). All of these images are available for sale.

I’m also glad to offer a new edition of smaller and more affordable prints. All details below.

All prints are available in the following sizes / prices:
30 x 20″ (50 x 75 cm) @ £620
16 x 12″ (40.6 x 30.5 cm) @ £130
3 prints of 16 x 12″ (40.6 x 30.5 cm) @ £300

All prints are signed & numbered by Ben Hopper (that’s me) and available at Limited Edition of 25.
It’s also possible to choose a specific number out of 25 if you’re interested, as long as it’ll be available still.

I also have 9 prints in sizes of 30×20” (regular photo paper) at £95 each(!) used for display at ACT ART 8 exhibition in 2010.
You can see them on HERE.

For purchasing prints or for any enquiries please email me at info@THEREALBenHopper.com

Note: This project is ongoing, and I am looking for journalists who want to report on this work, as well as gallery owners, curators and art dealers interested in arranging further exhibitions with me.

Collaboration with Kris Wlodarski (concept for Conehead / Bandage faces):

#NGWM KW 001101

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Selling Prints: THE BLACK AND WHITES by Ben Hopper.
I’m “getting rid” of some framed prints I still have around from the original prints I displayed at the exhibition on May 2010.
I offering £40 immediate discount on existing framed prints from original show.
Please contact me ASAP before they’re gone: info@THEREALBenHopper.com.
All pictures and sizes/prices below.

For the framed prints, a personal pick-up in London area is preferred.
All other prints are being sold at the original prices UNFRAMED!

Prices below are for the original 15 framed prints that were displayed at the exhibition during May 2010.
After they are gone, the prices displayed below will be for prints only!

15 prints from which 5 are limited edition; a collection of Black and White prints taken through out the last 3 years in Israel, London, France and Switzerland.
The pictures involve a mixture of live performance (dance, circus and music), portraits and scenery.
All prints are available for sale at prices ranging from £120 to £220 and can be shipped worldwide.
The exhibition showed at Pangea Project. London, United Kingdom during May 2010.

Amanda Palmer

Amanda Palmer
Taken during Amanda Palmer’s Secret Show @ The Underworld (London, UK) September 14, 2009. I wanted to photograph Amanda for a project I’m working on but only got a chance to speak to her for 5 minutes when they were wrapping up at 4am after an unusual long show. Busy girl. I finally managed to photograph her just recently.

Media: Digital Print; Matt Fuji Crystal Archive paper
Size: 16.9”x13” (image approx 11.5”x7.7”)
Price: £180 framed (instead  £220) Read the rest of this entry »

I started this blog in 2010. Since October 30th I have used WordPress on my domain.
I am SO grateful for the amount of interest I receive from all of you, where ever and whoever you are; I love you!

Before October 30th I used the WordPress platform (benhopper.wordpress.com) for few months (first blog post was on July 10, 2010) and even tho I have stopped blogging there from October onwards I am still receiving between few tens to 275(!) views every day there! (with an average of 136 on July-December).

The magic of naked girls imagery, uh?

On THEREALBenHopper.com/blog I’ve had 3,359 visitors since October 1st, 2010.

I’ve had total of 24,999(!!!) visitors on the older benhopper.wordpress.com from July until December (6 months!)

These two numbers sum up to a nice combined figure of 28,383 visitors in 2010 (during a period of 6 months)!!!

To view the full THEREALBenHopper.com/blog PDF (quite interesting) click here.

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if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
otherwise, don’t even start.

if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
this could mean losing girlfriends,
wives, relatives, jobs and
maybe your mind. Read the rest of this entry »

I think I’ll start a new series of posts where I will show pictures I couldn’t show on my Facebook page. I think I will call them The Facebook Censored Pictures.

Over the past 2 years I have managed to document some of London’s boldest clubs. In addition to several Mayfair membership clubs, I have mainly documented alternative and underground clubs. The main clubs / parties are: Torture Garden, The Last Tuesday Society, Antichrist and also The Last Days of Decadence & White Mischief where I’m in-house photographer.

I’ve been been uploading a bigger selection from these nights to my Nightlife album on Facebook – Always figured it’ll be an opportunity to get more people exposed to my page when their friends are being tagged. But the thing that really frustrated me is that I couldn’t upload ALL the photos. Some of the pictures from these clubs contain nudity and Facebook is nudity-free. It felt like I can’t show the “full story”.

So, I have already had one picture removed from Facebook today (I don’t even know which one was it as they don’t tell you!) and after taking some interesting pictures at the last Torture Garden Halloween party on October 30 (you can see the rest of pictures, “Facebook suitable”, here) I am very happy to give you

The Facebook Censored Pictures: Torture Garden Halloween 2010

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Two years ago today, October 15, 2008, I’ve moved to London from Israel.

I was 26 then and been playing with the notion of ‘moving out’ in my head for years.

I have managed to achieve quite a lot in that period of time but I am also feeling that I’m going through a lot of changes in the last few years and since today is a sort of anniversary in a way, I thought I might as well look back, ponder & try to conclude …so here we go.

I’ve seriously started taking pictures in the summer of 2007. That’s when I first bought my first DSLR; Nikon D80. I always tell people I started doing photography at 2007 and that I’m self-taught …or in other words; “yes, I’ve been doing it for a very short time and I never studied – I am very talented”. But actually, going through old archives in my hard drive I realize I’ve been fiddling with cameras back in 2001 when I served in the Israeli army and had access to a Sony Mavica (a 2MP camera that stored files on a 3.5″ floppy disk).

I also used my Dad’s Canon A70 a 3.2MP (Used with 128MB CF cards)

…Eventually followed by Canon Ixus 55 and 65 that lead to the Nikon D80 in May 2007 which I actually bought after quitting a photography equipment imports company where I worked as a PA for the CEO and Import Manager for almost 3.5 years.

This picture here on the left was taken 6 days after I got my Nikon D80 (May 20, 2007) It was taken on the beach 10 minutes walk from my little town, Atlit (near Haifa) in Israel. It’s a picture of my brother doing a freestyle frisbee catch called “Gitis“.  This picture won a first prize in a National Geographic summer sports photography competition in Israel. Looking back I think it’s one of my best picture. Funny how it was taken “just 6 days after I started doing photography”. But It’s not precise.

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This will go into my ‘inspiration‘ section here. There are a lot of things that inspire me. I realise most of them are just kind of motivation boosters.
This poem below by Charles Bukowski is about writing but it can be about anything – not just art.

so you want to be a writer?
if it doesn’t come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don’t do it. Read the rest of this entry »

Hey there!

http://THEREALBenHopper.com/blog is the new URL for my Blog.
Actually, I never really had a proper blog (or wordpress) so please forgive me if it takes me a bit of time to catch up.
Also, if you have any suggestions of how to improve it (technically or in terms of content) please let me know!
I am slowly gathering all basic blogging tools as well as working on my new and first proper website at THEREALBenHopper.com.

There’ll be changes and mainly a lot more to come very soon.
Hang around

Ben x

You can also catch up with me on the following websites in the meanwhile: Facebook, Flickr, Twitter

These videos & pictures are from a day (August 22, 2010) we spent in Brighton (UK) shooting for my series Naked Girls with Masks on a strange 21°C SUPER humid rainy day! We had 2 locations; Brighton’s beach & Devil’s Dyke (up the hills). There was mist everywhere and it just made everything magical!

More info on original post Naked Girls with Masks

Here are videos by my good friend Amber Vaks:

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A long intense debate started off on my facebook page about a picture of nipples I’ve uploaded accompanied with the following text: “I wonder why people make such a big deal out of female nipples. They should be evenly exposed!”
It took the miserable pathetic impotents pricks who are offended from the look of human nipples just one day to report this picture and have it removed. I salute you, cocksuckers.
Here’s the picture for both offended and happy nipple-lovers (I do not discriminate) …enjoy:

Cat Chappell. #NGWM CA 000101

Words by Alix Fox

Ben Hopper is a mask-ermind! ‘Naked Girls with Masks’ is the latest project by this hotter-than-wasabi up-and-coming London-based fine art photographer, which features over ten different stunning, nude models wearing surprising, comical, and sometimes grotesque full-head masks.

You’ve heard of masked balls…but these shots are all about masked boobies! Yet in addition to being undeniably sexual, they’re also playful, disturbing, and thought-provoking: a parody of the way in which human beings usually present themselves, they beg the question – why do we reveal our faces, yet hide our bodies from view? And what happens when that arrangement is turned on its (masked) head?

The photographs just exhibited at ACT ART 8, a huge underground group art show, which took place in Angel, Islington on Friday 9^th July (www.actart.co.uk)

The project is ongoing, and Ben is looking for journalists who want to report on his work, as well as gallery owners and fine art dealers interested in arranging further exhibitions with him.

The full story behind the photos, resources for reporters, and Ben’s contact info is all listed below. Read the rest of this entry »