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December 10, 2001 ]
Benabib got his first photography job with a single image in his portfolio; a portrait of his father and mother. A rigorous schedule, often with multiple daily assignments, armed Benabib with the confidence and professionalism to handle the unpredictable world of editorial photography. Although Benabib admits to being nervous at first, he feels that his proficiency matured alongside that of his subjects. "I've grown up with the people I'm most associated with," he says. "I think that makes my subjects more comfortable." Benabib's most current projects include ads for Puffy Combs' $250 million clothing line, Sean Jean. The ads appeared for twelve consecutive months in Vanity Fair, GQ, Rolling Stone, and Vibe. Other clients are Planned Parenthood, Sprite, Academics, and Rough Rider. Benabib is also a regular contributor to the New York Times and Newsweek. Recently, Altpick spoke to Michael Benabib about his work.
If you look at people doing endorsements these days it's Redman, Christina Aguilera, Destiny's Child. These are the people doing the Coke and the Nestea ads. I think it makes perfect sense to hire me because I've been doing those pictures for the record companies. How do you approach the hesitant subject? I show them Polaroids. There is a whole trend of photographing people in this very revealing, harsh-light way that is not attractive. It has an intellectual edge, in that it is a picture that maybe speaks more truthfully. But, I love to take pictures that make people look good, especially people who may have been photographed in a bad light before. They come to it skeptical. That's generally the kind of assignment I have.
I think a lot of young people today are extremely skeptical about being marketed to. So that style, even though it's just as contrived as any other style, is a little sneakier and it gets the point across: We are cool, we're making fun of ourselves.' How would you describe your style? I don't have one specific style of photography. I shoot locations. I shoot black and white. I use super saturated colors. I do have an urban style, and a lot of advertisers are now going after that hip-hop, edgy look. Mine is not the 'make you look ugly style' but it can show a lot of harshness and reality because I often shoot in real places. Where is your favorite place to shoot? The Ambassador Hotel is one of my favorite locations. It's an old, unoccupied hotel in L.A. It's an expensive place to shoot, but there are all these surfaces: a bar, a bank, a post office. There's an empty swimming pool. It's a photographer's dream, all these empty rooms.
Whose work do you admire?Steven Meisel. Let's face it, this guy comes up with new, vital styles all the time. I've heard criticism that he just recycles old styles, but I contend that whenever anybody tries to copy a style or look it can become something new and better unto itself, and I feel he does this well. What inspires you? My inspiration comes from the challenge of the work. Solving problems and working with creative people pushes me to flex my brain. I'm inspired by New York City. I like to ride a motorcycle around in the city and bring a camera with me. Everywhere I go I see stuff. Where would you like to go next? I want to do more advertising work and more crossover music stuff. I love doing the hip-hop and urban stuff, but I would like to shoot more rock and roll.
- Contributed by Mary Beth Holland >> See other member spotlights on the member spotlight index >> Find out more on how to become an altpick.com member |
