About Ben Hopper
Ben Hopper is an artist, portraitist and conceptual photographer. Travelling and working anywhere humans and non-humans can be. Available for editorial, advertising and personal commissions worldwide.
Email: info@therealbenhopper.com
Instagram: @benhopper
X: @benhopper
Elsewhere: linktr.ee/BenHopper
Subscribe to my Email Newsletter
Patreon
Become my official patron and help sustain my art.
Gain early access to 2500+ exclusive uncensored photographs in return at patreon.com/BenHopper:
Explore my online store to collect EDITIONS — limited edition, museum-quality prints from my annual retrospective campaign. Iconic works and new pieces, released across 12 projects.
Each print is signed, numbered, printed on archival paper, and includes a certificate of authenticity.
Carbon-neutral production. Global express shipping included.
For custom sizes, email to enquire.
NFTs
Become a collector and get single-edition NFTs of my work.
Existing work releasing gradually, new work on the way.
Find more of what's available here.
Dancers on Rooftops (2008-2022) - 123 Unique Dance Photographs; LIVE on OpenSea.
The genesis collection dropped on OpenSea in Sep 2021, and was completed in Aug 2022.
For all additional info please visit the Website Gallery page.
(not) Naked with Masks (2010-2016) - 16 Censorship-Resistant Portraits; LIVE on Sloika.
The collection dropped on Sloika, an NFT platform dedicated to photography, in Aug 2022.
For all additional info please visit: Website Gallery, Press Resources.
Hopper x Tveito (2022) - genesis NFT collab collection. Rework by Haavard Tveito of Hopper's 'Dancers on Rooftops' photographs, through coded digital manipulations, turning them into ephemeral experiences abstracting the subjects over time.
For all additional info please visit: Website Gallery, Press Resources.
About
Ben Hopper (b. 1982, Israel) is a London-based artist, portraitist and conceptual photographer travelling and working around the world.
His work centres on the human figure. From his first days arriving in London to document the city’s underground fetish clubs, to photographing circus artists dusted in carbon and chalk, to more recent projects investigating shame, conflict and human transfiguration, his work gets to the heart of who we are beneath our masks - and why we wear them.
Exhibited around the world, Hopper’s work has appeared in media outlets including HuffPost, The Guardian, Daily Mail, BuzzFeed, ELLE and GQ, making waves on social media. His controversial project Natural Beauty continues to spark intense debate after going viral several times since 2014, engaging tens of millions and empowering a global cultural trend of body positivity. One of his earlier projects, Naked with Masks, has taken on a life of its own since launching in 2010. The project’s genesis image – of a naked, unicorn-masked woman on a deserted Brighton beach – has rooted itself in Internet culture as a meme and profile pic. To this day it continues to appear in surprising places.
Alongside producing his own work, Hopper is a long-time collaborator for some of the world’s most iconic contemporary circus and dance companies. Working closely with local and international artists, organisations and venues, he has produced promotional imagery, concepts and visual material for creative projects for over a decade. Clients and partners include Cirque du Soleil, Canon, The Roundhouse, Secret Cinema, Rambert, and DV8 Physical Theatre.
Since 2010, Hopper has produced and participated in over 30 exhibitions, ran 3 successful crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter, and been awarded 2 grants from Arts Council England. Hopper’s exhibitions have been attended by tens of thousands and his combined online following stands above 255k.
NFT Collections
Dancers on Rooftops (2008-2022). 123 x 1/1 photographs. Dropped in Sep 2021 on OpenSea, completed in Aug 2022.
(not) Naked with Masks (2010-2016). 16 x 1/1 photographs. Dropped on Aug 4, 2022 on Sloika.
List of existing projects (in alphabetical order)
Cityscape Portraits (Work in progress. 2007-2022)
Dancers on Rooftops (Finished. 2008-2022)
Hackney Wick Portraits (Finished. 2013-2018)
Hex 000000 (Work in progress. 2013-2019)
Human Nature (TBA, Work in progress. 2007-2022)
Human Spaces (TBA, Work in progress. 2007-2022)
I just got here (TBA, Finished. 2008-2015)
In a Box (TBA, Finished. 2009-2022)
Making Art with the Enemy (TBA, In Development. 2022)
My Human Space (TBA, Work in progress. 2007-2019)
Naked with Masks (Work in progress. 2010-2018)
(not) Naked with Masks (TBA, Finished. 2010-2016)
Natural Beauty (Work in progress. 2007-2021)
Organic Electronic (TBA, Finished. 2013-2016)
Pantyhose (Work in progress. 2011-2022)
Shame (TBA, In Development. 2018-2022)
Smells like Human (TBA, In Development. 2018-2022)
Studio Fragments (TBA, Work in progress. 2012-2022)
The Illustrated (Work in progress. 2009-2020)
The Inner Outside (TBA, Work in progress. 2013-2019)
Transfiguration (Work in progress. 2012-2017)
Selected clients (in alphabetical order)
Akram Khan (UK), Ballantine’s (UK), Canon, CIRCa Festival (France), Cirque du Soleil (Canada), DOCH – Stockholm University of Dance and Circus (Sweden), Dom Pérignon Rosé (UK), DV8 Physical Theatre (UK), FEDEC – European Federation of Professional Circus Schools (Belgium), Le Lido Circus School (France), Les 7 doigts de la main / 7 Fingers (Canada), Phase One (Denmark), Rambert (UK), Secret Cinema (UK), Sofar Sounds (UK), and The Roundhouse (UK).
Selected Publications, Magazines & Press (in alphabetical order)
AOL, Bored Panda, BuzzFeed, Cosmopolitan, Daily Mail, Éditions Textuel (France), ELLE (France), Glamour, GQ, HuffPost, ITV (UK), Juxtapoz, La Repubblica (Italy), Le Figaro (France), Mako (Israel), Metro (UK & Russia), Stylist (France), Telegraph (UK), The Guardian (UK) and Yahoo.
SelectedPress and Write-ups
Natural Beauty: HuffPost, Daily Mail (2019), Daily Mail (2014), London Evening Standard, ELLE (FR), Telegraph, PolicyMic, BuzzFeed, Bored Panda (2019), Bored Panda (2014).
Transfiguration: HuffPost, Daily Mail, Bored Panda, Juxtapoz Magazine, EverythingWithATwist, iGNANT, The Phoblographer, Modernism.
Interviews
2016 Feb: Resonance 104.4 FM (Radio): Crowdfunding as part of ‘Art Survival Strategies in London’
2015 Dec: The Phoblographer: Transfiguration: A Study of Humans and Shapes (Slightly NSFW)
2015 Aug: C-Heads Magazine: “I think we are naturally attracted to beauty” A talk with Ben Hopper
2015 Mar: IntoConnection (YouTube): Photographer Experiments With The Natural Beauty Of Women
2015 Feb: Cultural Evolutionx (Russia): 7 questions for a photographer
Solo Exhibitions
2016 Apr 29 - May 8: Transfiguration @ Truman Brewery. London, UK.
2016 Apr 4-24: Transfiguration @ The Roundhouse (as part of CircusFest). London, UK.
2016 Jan 28-31: Transfiguration @ Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain. Paris, France.
2013 Sep 5-30: ‘Giving Something Back’ @ Stour Space. London, UK.
2012 Dec 5: ‘Self Assigned Open Studio Pop Up Exhibition #2’ @ Ben Hopper’s studio. London, UK.
2012 Oct 26 - Nov 4: ‘Circle at CIRCa’ @ CIRCa Festival. Auch, France.
2012 Aug 16: ‘Circus’ @ ditto. London, UK.
2012 Jun: ‘THE BLACK AND WHITES (Some More)’ @ The Yard. London, UK.
2012 Apr: ‘Circle at CIRCa’ @ artsdepot. London, UK.
2012 Mar-Apr: ‘WickED Circus’ @ Jacksons Lane. London, UK.
2010 May: ‘THE BLACK AND WHITES’ @ Pangea Project. London, UK.
Group Exhibitions
2023 July - Aug 2024: À NOS AMOURS (All our loves) @ Musée des Confluences. Lyon, France.
2019 Mar 23-31: HKwalls (with Yeff & Hopper) @ The Clubhouse. Hong Kong, China.
2018 Sep-Nov: ‘Individualised’ by Dots To Lines @ NR STUDIO. London, UK.
2018 Nov 17-25: ‘MODERN PANIC IX’ @ Archive Gallery. London, UK.
2018 Oct 5-7: ‘PROTOCOL’ @ Q-Park Cavendish Square. London, UK.
2016 Mar 8-12: ‘#STOPJECTIFY’ @ Gallery Different. London, UK.
2015 Feb 22: ‘Chinese Open: Year Of The Sheep’ @ Q-Park, Chinatown. London, UK.
2014 Mar 20-27: ‘Reeps One A.D.O’ (Yeff & Hopper) @ Londonewcastle. London, UK.
2014 Feb 2: ‘Chinese Open: Year Of The Horse’ @ Q-Park, Chinatown. London, UK.
2013 Oct 18-20: ‘BIG DEAL NO 5’ @ Q-Park Cavendish Square. London, UK.
2013 Feb 19-23: ‘GIANT / GÉANT’ @ Espace Beaurepaire. Paris, France.
2013 Feb 10: ‘Chinese Open’ @ Q-Park, Chinatown. London, UK.
2012 Dec - 2013 Mar: ‘Salon III’ @ Forman’s Smokehouse Gallery. London, UK.
2012 Oct: ‘BIG DEAL NO 4’ - An online exhibition curated by Vanya Balogh. London, UK.
2012 Aug-Sep: ‘Torture Garden Exposed’ @ The Flying Dutchman. London, UK.
2012 Jul-Sep: ‘WickED Circus’ as part of ‘From The Shadows’ @ Stour Space. London, UK.
2012 Apr: ‘Social Circus’ @ The Roundhouse. London, UK.
2011 Dec 1: ‘In a Box’ as part of ‘Unpublished Magazine #03’ @ Le Dictateur Gallery. Milan, Italy.
2011 Aug-Sep: ‘The Individual in the Eye of the Camera’ @ Chagall House. Haifa, Israel.
2011 Jun: ‘In a Box’ as part of Guerrilla Zoo’s ‘Modern Panic’ @ The Old Abattoir. London, UK.
2011 May-Jun: ‘Dasein: An Invitation to Hang’ @ Ace Hotel. NY, USA.
2010 Dec-Jan: ‘BIG DEAL NO 3’ @ THE COLLECTIVE. London, UK.
2010 Jun: ‘MINISCULE’ @ Oblong Gallery. London, UK.
2010 Jul: ‘Naked Girls with Masks’ as part of ACT ART 8 ‘CENSORED’. London, UK.
2010 Jul: ‘BHVU Open ’10’ @ BHVU Gallery. London, UK.
Kickstarter Campaigns
2017 Jan: "MAKE 100: 'The Forest Project' Limited Edition Print";
Successfully raised £2,459 out of a £100 target with 40 backers.
2016 Nov-Dec: "'Transfiguration' Photo-Project Exhibitions by Ben Hopper";
Successfully raised £5,560 out of a £4,500 target with 139 backers.
2013 Aug-Sept: "Giving Something Back: Exhibition by Ben Hopper";
Successfully raised £3,398 out of a £2,000 target with 83 backers.
Talks
2023 Sep 21 "Play from Your Fucking Heart!" @ PHOTOPIA Hamburg. Germany.
2016 Aug 26 "How I am crowdfunding" @ Cirque du Soleil HQ. Montreal, Canada.
2016 Jan 29 "How I am crowdfunding" @ Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain. Paris, France.
Thank you
Canon / Phase One / Teamwork Digital / Peartree Photo / theprintspace / Arts Council England
The work on this site is licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
Site made with PhotoFolio.
