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Ben Baker
There is an old saying that every portrait is a self-portrait of the photographer who took it. Ben Baker's portraits are a document of his love of people. Ben's subjects are often the world's most accomplished - from Barack Obama to Rupert Murdoch - and he sometimes trades only a minute or two with them. But no matter who Ben is taking pictures of, both he and his pictures seek an honest story, a shared laugh, the small kindness of a true human exchange.
My favorite moment of this interview is Ben fondly recounting a photographer who was thrilled to take pictures with no film in the camera. Rarely does one meet an artist whose heart is so deeply and lovingly tied to process that the ends can be of lesser importance than the means. If only I could be so sure footed and evolved. The perils of finding your own voice can convince one that being stringent and inflexible are the best way to make your impression and keep your integrity, that you are little more than the your last result. But speaking to Ben about the difference between giving pictures rather than taking them - about his love of the exchange of something true between himself and his subject reminds me that we are all so much more than our results.
Though far be it for Ben to compromise. His kindness and flexibility are for his subjects, and his keen and careful artistry are completely deliberate. The lights, the assistants, the way he speaks with his subjects in a quiet voice, his purposeful invisibility, the secondary place of the technology, the eye of your documentarian looking inquisitively, calmly, to truly connect. Nothing is accidental - Ben told me that he even took an acting improv class to be better practiced and suited to respond to any situation in the few minutes he is given with the world's busiest people. I've been lucky enough to have my picture taken by Ben. Where some shoots leave one exhausted, drained, feeling empty or exposed, it was almost as if I'd had an old friend to dinner and felt refreshed from catching up on old stories.
Ben is a reminder that our work opens our lives to us, delivers us to our lessons. His pictures have been his passport to extraordinary people and travels, and to see the world through his eyes is to feel his love for the citizens of the world - a reminder that the small stories we all have in common are vastly and truly extraordinary.
PS Paul Kelly closes this episode, a legendary Aussie musician and one of Ben's favorites. Find out more about Ben at www.benbaker.com, and more about Paul at www.paulkelly.com.au
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