Image credit: Dorothy Bennett
Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Bennett.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
My journey as a photographer really started with music. I’ve been playing guitar since I was 8, and I’ve always played in bands. I bought myself a 50mm prime lens for my birthday a few years ago to pair with a little Canon Rebel and started taking it to shows I was playing with Shy Beast. I’d shoot the opening band, or the bigger bands we were opening for and my love for the art grew from there. Last year the Austin Chronicle named me the “Best Live Music Photographer” of 2017, and the publicity from that allowed me to quit my day job and pursue photography full time. Musicians are still my favorite thing to shoot. It’s a world I understand, and it can be a real service to a fellow musician to have good photos they can use on social media to promote their act.
From photography, I grew interested in video production. My wife and I run Bennett Creative. We just released our first music video and have several more slated for production this summer.
Please tell us about your art.
I’m a visual artist. I make still and moving images. I see my work more as a service to the people I work with than a me making a statement. If I’m doing my job right, then my subject gets his or her statement across coherently. In that sense, I’m a documentarian. I want truth to be conveyed, and I want to help people get closer to their dreams. Most of my subjects are artists or entrepreneurs. So am I. We’re all trying to get our voice heard, and photos and videos are a potent way of getting our ideas out there.
As an artist, how do you define success and what quality or characteristic do you feel is essential to success as an artist?
I used to think that success was just being able to make ends meet financially as an artist. Just making enough to not need a day job. Now I think it’s more about finding your distinct voice and then having people seek you out to produce art in that voice. To do that you have to take risks and stick to your guns even when it seems like your ideas aren’t going anywhere in the public sphere.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
We stay active on Instagram. Follow my photo work @AndrewBennettPhoto and our video and animation work @BennettCreative. Also, my wife and business partner do some pretty stellar work @Dorothy.Megan
Contact Info:
- Website: www.AndrewBennettPhoto.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: AndrewBennettPhoto
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/andrewbennettphoto
- Other: www.BennettCreative.co
Image Credit:
All photos by Andrew Bennett
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