Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Hecht.
Hi Ben, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always appreciated variety in activities; changes to keep my interest piqued and skills sharp. So for a long time, I’ve been exploring many different creative outlets. The beginnings of my creative journey as it looks now started in a high school yearbook class when I got to use a DSLR for the first time. I was infatuated with the way I was able to navigate through the depth of the world simply by twisting the focus ring on the lens. After this, I was hooked and have been equally mystified and enamored by photography ever since. However, I learned early that it is difficult to make your hobby your profession and still enjoy it as a hobby. So I started spending most of my professional time on set as a cinematographer. I still got to play with cameras, I was just thinking about my visual world in a different, more fluid way. I worked on all sorts of projects from reality TV (barf) to documentary (love) and eventually some music videos. In fact, I was having a lot of fun shooting music videos. Around this time, I was photographing and writing for my friend’s music magazine and I could feel this magnetism toward this musical realm. I was going to at least a concert per week, shooting bands, meeting artists, and gaining some momentum in this world. Eventually, my desire to create music videos was larger than my network of musicians and I had the idea that I could make some of my own music to make music videos for. This was another paradigm shift in my journey through the contemporary creative continuum. I started a band called Karate Baseball which had the initial mission to provide me with songs to make videos for. I rapidly noticed a shift in my priorities though and started solely focusing my creativity into making music. We played shows, we put out music, we pretended to be rock stars… All the while, I was still trying to work as a cinematographer in what was noticeably a locally diminishing industry. I was stressed. I was barely making enough money for rent, I wasnt enjoying my work, and biggest of all, I had no direction for professional passion. I still enjoyed playing music with my friends, but even through my rose colored rockstar shades, I knew this was just a fun distraction from using my creativity in a more purposeful way. In early 2024, I had a friend reach out and ask me to join a month-long project with Fujifilm as a technical expert for a series of photowalks along the whole west coast. I didnt know at the time, but this, again, was a shift into a new chapter: one in which I found my passion for teaching photography. Since then, I have been working on building a community for photographers to learn basics of photography and then how to use photography as a form of self expression and as a creative outlet. I have been traveling to CA local camera shops holding demos and workshops and I am at the genesis of creating my own online photography community. With this community, I am hoping to make this wonderful art form accessible and fulfilling to anyone that wants to learn to LOOK and capture what they SEE.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I’ve consistently struggled with the inconsistency of being a professional creative and working freelance. When things are good, its great; I can work, afford rent, travel, and support my lifestyle. But when things are slow, my creativity dries up and my focus shifts entirely to how I can financially survive. There have been many occasions in which I have very nearly given up and applied for a job as a corporate suit. Luckily, my inexperience with corporate life didnt get me very far into these job searches and I was ultimately able to continue my freelance life.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Most of my creative work these days is a mix of photography and music. I have been doing a lot of traveling in the last year and I am working on putting together a photobook for a series I shot. I have also been exploring the concept of creating photography Zines but am still in the ideation phase. Musically, I recently started a new band and we are on the precipice of our inaugural release. I am always looking for new ways to be creative and blend multimedia art into one tornado of inspirational creation.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
I’ve learned a lot so far on my journey, but the two things that stick out to me the most are to follow your dreams and support your friends. There are a lot of times when I feel like i need to give up or that I cant accomplish what I set out to do, but with my internal echolalia reminding me to follow my dreams, I find a deeper source of inspiration or a way to pivot to make things work. That being said, I think that there is no chance that I am where I am now and doing what I’m doing without such determined support from some of my closest friends.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://benhechtcreative.com
- Instagram: @benhecht
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@benhechtcreative
Image Credits
I took all of the photos
