Don’t try and categorize Ken’s style as your list will grow too long to recite. With the shooting chops Ken possesses, he can present an award-winning polished shot every week, but instead opts to embrace his creative self and shoot the quirky and experimental ideas he lands on for that week. It’s this creative strength that makes Ken’s studio shots even more unique, merging technical portraiture through an unconventional angle. A 2x Weekly Warrior, this week marks Ken’s 158th submission.

-Yosef

Name: Ken Benoit

Current All-Time Streak: 3

Joined 52Frames: January 2019

Your “walk-around” gear right now:

Nikon Z50 and DX 16-50mm or Z 28mm f/2.8

The place you call home:

London

Your life in 30 words or less

Professor of applied data science, world traveller, adopted child of London, and (extremely) keen portrait and street photographer.

Can you share 2 images, one from your past, and one more recent, that shows your evolution as a photographer?

What has been your favorite style of shooting lately?

Studio portraiture. I like to shoot an unorthodox portrait that is different from what the subject would normally seek as a portrait and provides something slightly quirky or unusual. But in the portrait I always seek to take a characteristic of the subject, based on my knowledge of the subject and their personality or their lives, and represent that characteristic or element in the photograph.

I prefer studio portraiture because it allows me to control the most important element for me, which is the lighting. I am obsessive about lighting to the extent that I used to practice setups and take notes about them using a mannequin as a subject (and occasionally, my wife, although she lacks the time or patience of her inanimate counterpart!).

I also love street photography and have a second Instagram account for street, which seems very different from studio portraiture, but I like the contrast of seeking photos that have to be found, where I have no control, rather than photos that are made, as in the studio where I have complete control..

What was the first photo you ever submitted to 52Frames?

How did you find out about 52Frames?

The Fstoppers blog, I think.

What submission are you most proud of and why?

I’ve been shooting portraits recently of people I know from official roles, such as this photo of our acting London School of Economics President and Vice-Chancellor. I’ve known Eric for about 15 years, but the day I shot him was the day he took over as acting President, a role that could last up to a year or longer. He managed to squeeze in this 90-minute shoot with me in my basement studio, using a leather chair I keep there and a canvas backdrop I hand-painted during a COVID lockdown. I had already shown him versions of this photo (the famous Memorex ad and reproduced by Framer Rob Horner), and while he emphasised that he felt most comfortable with more standard business shots, he followed my directions through the shoot (which included other poses and setups of course) and we did this one near the end of the session.

The position suggests that Eric is braced for the coming trials present in this very busy and important role, looking right in the photographic convention of facing the future. But the force of the onrushing challenges is more than his tie can withstand, so it’s blown backward.

To execute the photo, I bought the tie, which was designed to be LSE red, and put a coat hanger through it to provide the windswept look (with my son holding it off camera). I have a 90cm softbox with an egg-crate grid as a key light, a MagMod gridded speedlight for fill behind him, and a third light as fill camera left. I was very pleased with the lighting and how it looked with the leather and the folds of his suit – but most of all with the pose I got from him and the strong profile that highlighted his face, head, and leading hand. I used some colour grading to emphasise the blues, and cropped it square to exaggerate the top left to bottom right diagonal and the triangle of the subject.

One tip you’d like to share?

Always make notes when you have an idea. I use a folder in Apple Notes called Inspiration, since I can add notes to it using my phone if I am out and about, or clip images and links or even drawings to these notes if they are entered on my iPad or MacBook. Great ideas leave as easily as they arrive, so capture them to use later, as you think of them, or find inspiration from looking at other photos, other forms of art, or even scenes from everyday life.

I use this approach not just for photography but also for many other things in life.

Why is 52Frames meaningful to you?

It’s a great community with some extremely dedicated and talented people. Photography is about creativity and in meeting the weekly challenges, Framers show some incredible creativity. As you get to know other Framers’ approaches and styles, it’s very rewarding and inspirational to see how they approach the same challenges to which I try my own interpretation.

To view Ken’s profile on 52Frames, click here: