Anna Luker Blog

Ben Hopper

A London based photographer, probably best known for his 'Natural Beauty' series is a well rounded artist, photographer, and filmmaker. His main subject of works surround circus artists, dancers, and nudists. Ben was born on April 13, 1982 and currently is living and working in London, UK.

Some of his photography work has been featured in BuzzFeed, Cosmopolitan, ELLE (France), Glamour, The Huffington Post, and Yahoo just to name a few.  

Here is an excerpt from Ben's Blog that I think everyone might find interesting. 

"Let´s talk about your project 'Natural Beauty'. “I don’t want to say that I want women to start growing their armpit hair. I just think that it’s a possibility and people shouldn’t dismiss it. I’d like people to just question [beauty standards], the whole thing.” Is your quote out of an interview with the Huffington Post, that summarizes pretty well what your intention is. You got a lot of attention for it – how about criticism?

The project received a lot of attention and a good chunk of it was criticism.

A lot of it circulated around integrity. It’s a very sensitive issue and I think the virality of the project was due to the fact that everyone had something to say about it whether they agreed or disagreed with it.

Overall my intention with the project was a good one. It made people a bit more aware and perhaps accepting. I think it made a good change. "

His photography influenced a lot of positive things. Madonna and Miley Cyrus picked up and made it a trendy thing. Not that women haven't already just accepted their body for what it is, such as Frida Kalo, but the reach and influence celebrities have on society is far greater than most artists will see in their lifetimes unfortunately. 

A piece from another one of his projects, "Transfiguration." 

Hopper strips all material items and distractions from the subject so the viewer gets a more raw or authentic feeling. All photographs main focus in the females hair, specifically the armpit hair. The positions of the body of the subjects are posed in a little sexualized manner and the eye contact with the camera adds to that. The gaze combined with the almost see-through tanks, "by revealing one of the most feminine and arousing body parts in combination with a stereo-typically masculine attribute, Hopper jolts the viewer into confronting preconceived beauty ideals."

Miss Anele (#3) For Naked Girls with Masks 

This photo for me speaks volumes. The direction I hope to take in my final is probably going to be geared more towards gender roles and expectations. Which I find a very prominent in this photograph. The decision to wear a male mask. The humor in the surrounding environment with the cup. The fact she is naked. The first thing that came to my mind is the whole glass ceiling for woman. High ranking woman in power of companies or anything really face some negative humor and discrimination. "Did you sleep with your boss for that position?" "Who did you have sex with to get that job?" Just snarky comments like that.