In his first year learning photography, Benjamin Von Wong created over 50,000 photographs, but none of them struck him as extraordinary. It wasn't until he tried out a flash gun that he began to see new possibilities that could make his work stand out. Many more photos later, Benjamin Von Wong is well-known for imagery that blends practical effects, fantastic locations and post-processing into something surreal and extraordinary. Find out how he got his start and what inspires his elaborate shoots in his PIX 2015 talk.
His works suck! that's one opinion. People are buying his style, that's fact. His style is definitely not my type of shoot or ever going to be, but that doesn't matter. He impacted many people and raised million of dollar with his "art", that's what matter.
Not my type of photographry I prefer to capture what is around us in a real way but still you have to appreciate his vision and drive to achieve excellence in creating his Art.
Why do there have to be so many motivational speakers in photography?
I prefer Joe McNally who may also mention tenacity as a necessary virtue (when asked) but then moves on to give some practical advice or show some inspirational shots.
When I'd like to learn something about photography, I don't want to be sold the American dream over and over and over again. Guess what. It only works for a few. But those few get the limelight. And then you have to hear it over and over and over again.
It's a pity that in our current world such "Von Wongs" take place under light instead of many other really talented photographers who are lacking marketing skills.
Von Wong has skills and probably also marketing skills, so here he is.
Regarding, it is a pity that other skilled photographer do not succeed, just because they are lacking marketing skills. Yepp, thats exactly true. I am very good engineer and also a rather good inventor. This has rendered me some good jobs, but, I really should be famous and stinkin' rich, don't you think? Its my right, even if I cannot sell a thing. Or?
Yes, "Von Wong" is a silly name, like "Madonna" or "Lady Gaga" - which is precisely what makes it successful !!!
Is ist "art"? In my opinion, there is very little art in photography, it is 95% craft... and Von Wong really has mastered his craft. The selection of his work by DPreview is somewhat questionable and does not do justice to his vision. For better ones see here: http://jenharlan.com/2013/12/06/this-is-why-you-quit-your-job-benjamin-von-wong/
If I had taken just a SINGLE ONE of the photos, a quick image search on google reveals, I would be elated !!!
"Von" Wong's work is cheesy as hell. His pictures are the same over-processed junk you find in a Photoshop User magazine. The only thing this guy does well is market himself with that ridiculous name he gave himself. He's in the same category as Gary Fong, Scott Kelby and the rest of the televangelists of the photography world preaching to creatively impaired sheep of the world.
Well apparently quite a few people agree with my assessment. Instead of following what DPReview tells you what's relevant in photography, go browse Instagram, Tumblr and Flickr and see what lesser known, but far more talented photographers are posting from every corner of the world. Portrait photographers in Mongolia and street shooters from Brazil are way more raw and captivating than what gets hyped as good photography.
This is the last tactics they use when cornered - they will always try to shame you for not having photo galleries under your profile. And all this with zero acknowledgement that most of users who replied here agreed with your post. apestorm - yes, this is concerning you.
@Jonathan F/2 Are you really comparing street photography with this genre of photography? Really? It's like saying a photographer makes bad wedding pictures because they are not sport.
You can discuss the style but technically his work looks great.
You're second point is that social media is a better source for unknown talent. So that means when one of those "unknown" talents gets famous, he falls out of your boat of quality artists? Because he or she is famous. You think Von Wong was born famous? That he did not use social media? Or wait, maybe of he did not market himself and remained "underground", he'd get your approval? That's just plain stupid.
I think those defending him, need a little exposure to the outside world to see what good photography is about. And seriously as another commenter pointed it out, if you start wearing clothes with your name on it, you're already in the realm of being a marketer and not about content creation. Feel free to like what you want, life is easier for those who prefer to be good little sheep.
Maybe it's a European thing, but there is something really unsettling to me about someone who feels the need to wear clothing with their own name on it.
I have a strong fine arts background. I am making a living as an artist with tattooing and illustration as my income. Photography is purely a hobby of love.. Very few photographers impress me with there creativity and Mr Von Wong Truly is an artist.. I find it amusing when photographers consider themselves artists when all they do is pose a model manipulate a little light, do a little hdr. Especially how easy it is in the digital age.. You needed so much more skill and knowledge back film days... Hats off to you Von Wong you are a true fine art photographer.
When the posters who are critical of Von Wong's work get asked to speak at a PIX event then I will really take them seriously. Obviously Von Wong has done something right to get him this far, and kudos to him for having the talent, grit and moxie to make himself (in)famous.
I am not a fan of his staged + overPPed work, but I don't think anyone is critical. It's just many of us are not into THAT kind of "work", but hey, whatever floats your boat man. Enjoy mr. Wong :)
50K images in 1 year and not a single one that struck him. Well, he surely does something wrong then. Just from my last trip I got at least dozen that struck me. And BTW I wasn't even shooting staged scenes like this Von guy. I guess to someone photography is a competition rather than a hobby.
@Silmarion: Have you considered the possibility that he might have set higher standards for himself than you have set for yourself? It is not about competition. To really excel in a field you need to have that hunger where you don't easily get satisfied with small achievements and are looking to be the best that you could be. And yes the 50K images are the ones he shot in his first year before he found his style. As for being staged, yes they are staged. And it takes a lot of creativity and resourcefulness to envision, stage and execute shots like that. Talk is cheap. Come back after you have successfully executed a staged shot like that and then we'll see.
You have different standards of what strikes you then. Von Wong may not have picked the same 12 you picked and you may have picked 5,000 of his that he took in his first year. We are all our own harshest critics.
+1 IMHO I too like spontaneity and frankly "staged" work is for me very flat and boring however expensive costumes, grim and decorations are. Over-processed photos are not exactly my thing either. Combination of both is just too much. I very much prefer work of less known, but more natural and talented photographers. However, in our modern world even if you dump a load on a plate - someone will praise it and call it a masterpiece.
@random78. I think you are missing the point of Silmarion's comment. It must be almost impossible to take 50,000 photos in one year, let alone to take 50,000 and not produce one good or passable image. Even a roomful of monkeys could do it. The 50,000 story is as pure hyperbole as Von Wong's photo-confections themselves.
Me, I think I'd prefer David laChapelle for OTT showbiz foto art. At least they have a sense of humour and self-awareness within their own ridiculous spectacle.
Besides the Von Wong audience there is the literacy audience that never interpreted extraordinary as good or passable. If you watch the video he shows the progression of his early images. This video medium works well when what is written is so grossly misinterpreted.
@Timbukto I see your point but his photos are hardly extraordinary except in the most literal sense. I find them like watching a Del Toro film, where everything is underlined to the point of obviousness. They deny the requirement of imagination in their audience. I feel that they are acting more as illustrations of technique than photography.
And now we go even closer to the correct original literal meaning of what is written. It was what Von Wong considered extraordinary. As for if that is popular opinion comes down to both marketing, trending tastes, and the merit of his work. I am sure there are folks that enjoy Del Toro and consider his work extraordinary. I know you guys can legitimately criticize his work without rewriting what was originally written in the article and resorting to fallacies or moving goal posts. To me it looked like he spent a good year learning and the 50k claim is not even what I would consider a tall tale. Maybe it is age speaking, but when folks grow up with digital, shooting 50k ordinary shots your first year is far from extraordinary. Think about how many shots don't even make it out the camera. Stop thinking film days, as he is probably younger than you.
My personal opinion is that his work shows merit especially in work ethic and dedication, but they don't really speak to me. He obviously works hard to establish marketing and branding. Wants to earn money while doing photography, difficult to do really. And someone who never got recognized and spent their life as a nanny may produce images that I find superior artistically. Regardless, it seems if someone does want to be a successful photographer (in the sense of earning money), they should follow some of his cues in work ethic and the importance of marketing. But if you want to be the next Vivian Maier, who knows maybe we'll learn about you and how you spent many years as an old curmudgeon keyboard warrior before posthumously being recognized as producing the most stunning artwork known to man.
Indeed, to each his own and bashing something you don't like a past time. :)
I like most kinds of works, least is the over processed digital darkroom stuff but the fact that he has taken his photography to encompass art/styling direction is impressive.
I'm not thinking film days. I know you can shoot hundreds of reject shots digitally in one session - it's way of working that can be useful in certain kinds of photographic practice. But he does not say 50k reject shots but 50k photographs. But you hit the nail on the head with your next post. It's a story about work ethic and not giving up.
The thing that really strikes me about his story is his language. How many times he uses the words ordinary and extraordinary. He even introduces himself as 'photographer extraordinaire'.
To come back to my comparison with Del Toro, what I see is not photography but styling. The photography is an adjunct to his real craft – which is image-making. Image stylist extraordinaire feels more accurate perhaps, but I suspect he won't stick with photography or being a photographer
Vivian Maier didn't want to be a Photographer Extraordinaire or even a Photographer, she just enjoyed taking photographs. The world turned her into a photographer.
Depends on interpretations, but literal meaning of photograph is to create an image from light, and a wasted shot is still literally a photo-graph. My stance is Von Wong took a look or guess at his shutter counts for this marketing blurb. I do not think he made 50k acceptable images his first year learning where it was still very much his first entry into the hobby. In addition in the video he states it was flashes that made the difference. Taking a year before trying flash guns is not out of norm either. He was an engineer before, he wants to make a career out of this to be well compensated, Vivian Maier did not. Making a well compensated career out of photography is very difficult IMO, not the first thing I'd tell my kids to pursue for financial security.
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