Art

This photographer is dope and he does dope things

Dreamy photographs. Passport full of stamps. Kanye West-inspired life motto. This guy goes OK.

By Oliver Pelling

8 min readPublished on 01/19/2017 · 11:44 AM UTC

Travelling the world and shooting photos for a living, when considered on their individual merits, are two undeniably great things. They're so great, in fact, that it's quite difficult to imagine any circumstances - hypothetical or otherwise - under which they could become even greater.

But then you meet people like Ben Mcnamara. People who have managed to combine these two great things and spend a lot of their time loitering (with intent) in places that just so happen to look tear-jerkingly beautiful on camera and getting paid for it.

Taking in the view, Sri Lanka
© Ben Mcnamara

Working for a range of clients and causes, Ben's travels have helped him amass a dreamy (in the other-wordly sense, not the Hollywood-heartthrob sense) collection of photographs for us to have a collective gawk over.

Having just returned from a trip in Afghanistan with World Vision, we caught up with the Melbourne-based lensman to see if we can't take a peek behind the curtain of his Instagram-friendly work and life.

Who are you, where are you from, where do you live, and what do you do?

I’m a Melbourne based photographer, film-maker, animator, actor, illustrator and all around creative (sorry - its a mouthful). Some weeks I’m working on frames for a stop motion, others I’m flying small planes to remote locations and others I’m working on storyboards or concepts for little conceptual projects. You could say I like variety.

People are awesome all over the world and I love breaking down a few of the superficial walls we put up.

I understand you have just returned from Afghanistan - what took you out there?

A super cool project on the development on women’s rights in the region. It’s this huge, incredibly inspiring look at how small cultural shifts towards the empowerment of women are having impacts on broader Afghan society.

Afghanistan is rated as the worst place in the world to be born a female. It’s due to a whole bunch of cultural, social and religious reasons which need to be carefully and sensitively shifted.

World Vision have been on the ground doing invaluable work in a pretty volatile and dangerous part of the world. We teamed up to try and bring light to this project and also shift some of the focus away from war, death and bombs in the region.

For the record, Afghani’s are some of the most hospitable, warm, intelligent and cool people I’ve met. Plus, they are super funny and can smoke a shisha like you wouldn’t believe.

What or where has been your favourite adventure to date?

Afghanistan is right up there, as the subject matter isn’t about profits or products, but humanity. And I love peeps. People are awesome all over the world and I love breaking down a few of the superficial walls we put up.

A project from last year in cahoots with Intrepid Travel was working with the Olkola people in Cape York - documenting and experiencing the biggest ever handback of Australian land to an indigenous community. That was something so much bigger than me that I was just lucky to see it with my own eyes.

We greatly undervalue our Indigenous heritage and being able to show that to people gives me way more satisfaction then any big time client job which looks cool on the resume but has no heart.

And what about the most inspiring experience you've had on any of your travels?

This is a tough one bro! In terms of pure visual woah-ness. Trekking through Nepal is something special and documenting how the country had recovered after the earthquake was pretty awe-inspiring.

I’m pretty relentless when it comes to pushing myself and trying new things.

But I’ve lived in a Filipino boys orphanage in Davao three times. There are 26 little homies kicking about there and I get to become Kuya Ben (brother Ben). Life is about playing basketball for six hours a day, taking reading classes with the little ones, drawing Dragon Ball Z characters, eating coconuts, teasing them about girls and laughing at the really stupid things they sometimes do, like eating fruit-flavoured shampoo because it smells good.

I also give them some emotional and development support during a time of life which for any normal kid is hard, let alone for those without parents. That's better than any photo or video I can make for sure.

We - because I got the boys to help me with lighting and camera setup - created a really special series of portraits which reflect each little individual personality and the struggles they have gone through. It’s not sad because they are orphans, but more this universal signifier that everyone is pretty vulnerable and we just need some love and compassion.

Where else has your job taken you?

I specialise in South East Asia so I've been to Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia and Malaysia more times than I can count. They are my bread and butter.

Some others are Timor Leste, Japan, India, Ghana, Hong Kong, Nepal, Afghanistan and I'm currently talking to you from Austria.

How did you build your career? Where did it all start?

The map to here is a wild one. I'm a self-taught photographer with a degree in creative media and design, and a masters degree if film-making. Weirdly I wrote my thesis on Charlie Chaplin and silent film, so it’s not a linear journey.

Strike a pose, Philippines
© Ben Mcnamara

Since my early 20s I’ve made and worked on over 50 films and shot over 500,000 photos, had a few art exhibitions, lived in orphanages, worked on the homeless world cup, freaked out about life, directed some big commercials and flunked a bunch of jobs.

I’m pretty relentless when it comes to pushing myself and trying new things and still consider myself a complete newb and try to approach things humbly. I’ve just been able to frame my work better than some others I guess.

If you want it, make it happen.

If I was to put my wise-man hat on though it comes down to this little gem: Create the work you want to be hired for. No-one cares about your work or your future more than you. If you want it, make it happen. Be stubborn in the bad times and work harder in the good times. Don’t get comfortable.

Good tips. Your life and work sound like a dream. Are there things that make it difficult?

For me it is the dream job. But it’s also early rises and late nights and loneliness and a lack of routine and walking 25km a day with 15kg of gear on your back. Its physically exhausting and mentally draining. I’ve had friends come on trips thinking it would be super fun and it’s broken them.

Is it tough to make a living as a filmmaker and photographer in 2016? What kind of things are you guys up against?

Super tough. This year has been the first year since I was 18 (I’m now 30) where I have had consecutive jobs fall through, clients go to sleep and debt creep up on me. But about a month ago the five-month drought ended and things are looking super peachy again. It’s that slight arrogance and stubbornness you need to fall back on during those times.

I don’t hide any secrets. I have had multiple photographers or filmmakers ask to pick my brain and I give them way more than they bargained for. I’ve seen my aesthetic then appear in their work and it has cost me jobs or those clients then do things internally but I am really proud to have contributed to their growth. Plus they are all my mates.

Those moments hurt the hip pocket, but I would do it all again for sure. There’s enough work for all of us, and these guys teach me stuff as well. Plus, it forces me to grow and become bigger and better and not rely on the tried and tested.

[Don't be] scared of change or of losing what you’ve got.

What advice would you give to anyone who'd like to find themselves in your position?

Develop your skill. Practice it. Learn how to deal with clients better. Network wherever you can. Be kind. Realise there are people way better than you out there. Embrace that. Start at step one again.

What, in your mind, is the definition of adventure?

Genuinely chasing happiness and not being scared of change or of losing what you’ve got.

Be adventurous by getting out of that bad relationship that you’re comfortable in, or jump off that cliff, or learn a new skill, or tell people about your opinion. Whatever man. Just stop being scared and living behind excuses.

I have only ever told two people what my life motto is but I’ll share it with you. It’s lame…so just be prepared. The king of the douchebags – Kanye West - once said: “...because my life is dope and I do dope things.” That’s adventure for me and what I want to be able to say to myself every day.

Delve into more of Ben's work on his website.

Art