Today we’d like to introduce you to Benjamin Farren.
Benjamin, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I came to LA from northern California in 2016 to study Design & Media Arts at UCLA. Seven months into my life here, I met a couple of musicians at Best Buy where I was working at the time. It turned out this couple was formerly the band Karmin and they had left that band to pursue rap instead of pop music, rebranding themselves as Qveen Herby. After meeting them, they hired me to shoot music videos and social media content for a year. This completely changed the course of my life in LA. Having my work on a platform with well over a million youtube subscribers and a few hundred thousand Instagram followers skyrocketed my photo and video work. This allowed me to meet incredible new people that provided even more opportunities than I had thought possible when I first decided to leave home. Now almost three years in, I’ve graduated and am currently freelancing full-time, shooting portraits, travel, short films, music videos, and even wedding videos.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s definitely been a bumpy ride. For the first several months, I was trying to juggle being a full-time student, working part-time at Best Buy, doing DoorDash delivering out of a minivan whenever I had spare time while also commuting an hour and a half each way to school five days a week. It was depressing, to say the least, and I found myself questioning if what I was doing even mattered or if I should just drop out and move back home where everything was easier. But I decided to stay the course and was very fortunate that opportunity after opportunity began to present itself while I worked at Best Buy. I credit applying for that job as the catalyst that set everything I have now into motion. A big part of the successes that came from that job came from my desire to greet each new day and every new customer with a smile on my face. As my mom always told me growing up, “you’re always on a job interview,” meaning you really never who you’re talking to, and making a good impression on the right person could change your life.
Please tell us about your work; what else should we know?
I’m primarily a photographer and videographer, but I also dabble in graphic design. I like to keep my work broad, shooting portraiture, cosplay, travel, astronomy, music videos, short films, and even wedding videos. Currently, I’m most passionate about my dark/neon portraits. Something about shooting in the dark with colorful lighting is incredibly exciting to me, and I love shooting in a style that hasn’t really caught on yet or gotten old and stale.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Oh gosh, that’s a tough one. I’d have to say being a ballroom dance instructor at Nordquist Dance in Santa Rosa.
Pricing:
- Neon Portrait Shoots: $700 ($500 for Voyage LA readers)
- Music Videos: $1500-$5000
- Standard Portrait Shoots: $600 ($400 for Voyage LA readers)
Contact Info:
- Website: benjaminfarren.com
- Phone: 707-481-5482
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @benjamin_farren
Image Credit:
For my personal photo – Devyn Breslin
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