Meet Ben Hopper
We sat down with Ben for a quick chat to learn more about his formative years, nomadic lifestyle, go-to equipment, and inspirations.
NG: GM Ben, thanks for taking the time to chat ahead of your Nifty Gateway Curated debut next week on July 19th!
BH: GM! It’s a pleasure, I am so excited about this drop, it’s a true milestone for me!
NG: You grew up in Israel and moved to London in your 20s. Tell us a bit about where you grew up and your early years. How did that contribute to you becoming a portraitist and conceptual photographer?
BH: I grew up in Israel nearby the shore. Born in Haifa, and when I was 5 we moved to a little suburb called Atlit, 10min walk from the beach. My childhood consisted of running around with lots of other kids in our then-under-construction neighbourhood. Chasing snakes, lizards and other animals. Surfing, skating …and when I turned 15 I started playing guitar.
Music was a massive influence on me growing up, especially from about the age of 10. When I turned 15–16 I became friends with a wonderful group of teenagers who were all young active artists themselves; musicians, painters, writers. Truly a talented bunch. They took themselves very seriously and at the same time, didn’t take anything seriously at all. It was fantastic to be cynical and sarcastic about life with them almost all the time.
When I was in my late teens and early 20s, late 90s and early 2000s — the energy I got from people like Jimi Hendrix, Zappa, Radiohead and Tom Waits left a mark on me. The music I was playing on the guitar was always trying to emulate it, and when I picked up a camera at the age of 25, I really wanted to create the same energy with my photos. So every photo felt to me like it needed to be that punchy, with the same oomph.
NG: You’re a self-described nomad. Where are you currently and where are you headed next?
BH: I try my best. I’m in Lisbon at the moment after spending a month+ in Berlin and Germany. I’m heading to Boom Festival in Portugal soon — a Psytrance festival, and even though I do NOT like Psytrance at all, I think it’s one of the best festivals in the world! It’s truly an incredible experience to be there.
And then, after I’m not actually sure yet.
Being a nomad feeds the soul with perspective and makes you humble. It keeps me balanced and inspired but it can also be a very lonely experience when you’re out there checking out an incredible place for the first time, by yourself…missing your friends.
I can’t do it all the time, I have to go back to see my friends and family in London and Israel every now and then.
NG: What was the first camera you owned? And what do you shoot with now?
BH: My first camera was Nikon D80 back in 2007. I now have the (in desperate need of an upgrade) Canon 5D MK III and when I can, I use Phase One medium format cameras. My next camera will probably be the Canon R5 mirrorless (or its upgrade if it comes out this year) + 24–70mm f2.8 lens as a basic kit.
For me, it’s a great base of gear to give me most of what I need. The 24–70mm lens is perfect for photographers who work with movers like dancers because I can zoom in and out if my subject is moving away or closer to me. An extra treat would be to have 50mm f1.2, and some wide angle with me, but the weight is always something I’m trying to avoid.
NG: Your work centers around the human figure. What about humans and our bodies inspires you to continue creating this style of work?
BH: Most of it is just naturally finding a certain beauty that inspires or attracts me to document, and then share with the world. All of my photos of the human body have an element of that. This combo is my motivation; find the beauty, and share it. I love certain body muscle tones that come from physical activity rather than working out — for example, circus straps artists have very specific-looking muscle tones which I’ve always found super beautiful.
So often, it’s quite simple for me — just finding someone I find cool / beautiful — even if it’s a body part or a certain move only they can do — then figure out a way to capture that with a photograph.
Generally, I think what circus artists and dancers can do with their bodies is extraordinary and worth photographing. With nudes it’s the same, I try to photograph bodies I find beautiful.
NG: Can you tell us a bit more about this specific collection, The Human Form?
BH: Within my photographic work, there’s a thread connecting everything I created from the moment I picked up a camera 15+ years ago. The fascination with the human body as a form, a shape, and a texture. And the search for the point at which a Place becomes an entity in its own right.
The Human Form is consisting of three pairs of photographs created between 2011–2018 that embody the above; 2 photos from my project ‘The Illustrated,’ 1 photo from ‘Human Nature,’ and 1 from ‘Human Spaces’ — with the addition of 2 early circus photographs.
The models appearing in the photographs in that drop are all athletes, dancers, and circus artists. These photos embody in various forms exactly what I’ve tried to show throughout my career — how the beauty of how a human body can be pushed physically to extend away from the ordinary. To be taken out of context and used as a canvas.
NG: What does this collection mean to you?
BH: Actually, this collection being my debut solo curated drop is truly going a full circle in the NFT space for me since the NG-curated drops of my buddies Ted Chin and swolfchan were what inspired me to start minting my own work back in 2021! Swolfchan is a real-life friend from the UK and he helped me a lot when I entered the space. This whole experience feels very sweet and heartwarming to me. I’m really happy I was able to patiently enter into the NG in a very humble way (3 drops with tight supply and affordable prices). It feels right, the whole thing just feels right — and that’s a wonderful feeling!
NG: Who, or what, inspires you?
BH: So much inspires me, not just art. Nature, animals, food, sound, music, sexuality, censorship, politics, the human condition, gender. Some inspire me to act, some to react. Some inspire me to not do anything at all — and by doing that …nothing — I also find ideas.
I listen to a lot of music still. I try to hang with as many artist friends as possible. People who make things and are generally positive about life. I try to travel as much as I can — that always keeps me humble.
NG: Looking ahead, are there any future directions or themes you are considering exploring in your upcoming projects?
BH: I really hope to explore more psychological topics revolving around Shame and Acceptance. I also wanted to explore more social taboos and share some art inspired by my background as an Israeli (hint: it’s a series of collaborations with artists from “enemy countries of Israel”).
As I enter the 2nd chapter of my life (I’m 41 now), I try to plan my next moves in ways that when I lay on my deathbed looking back, I could give myself a tap on my shoulder and be proud of myself. I want to use art as a tool to try and make this world a little better, as much as I can.
NG: Let’s close with something fun… What’s the last piece of art you collected?
BH: It was a 1/1 piece from AURAS by Jeremy Cowart. Jeremy has been doing such interesting work in the NFT space over the last few years and as a fellow photographer and artist — I often find what he does very inspiring. He may tell you that AURAS failed because it didn’t sell out — but in my opinion, it was a crazy first-of-its-kind symphony of compositions…and the whole operation. Well worth checking out!
Explore Ben Hopper’s debut Nifty Gateway Curated collection, The Human Form, here: https://www.niftygateway.com/collections/thehumanform.
