The Chocolatier:
Benjamin by Mark Grantham
It is always a joy to showcase the work, the passion, of Santa Cruz based photographer Mark Grantham. I have featured Mark's work many times on FH and am always blown away by his ability to capture the male body in new and creative ways. Mark shoots men the same way one might capture architecture with a focus on angle, on lines, shape and form. In one of my features on Mark' work (The Beauty Of Lines) Mark said the following;
'I approach each shoot with an eye for creating art... for creating something unique... for making the model shine... for grabbing the attention of the viewer... for creating a bit of mystery or wonder... Each of us is unique, so why create the same image over and over? '
Mark Grantham
I was recently pulled back to Mark's work and his work with Benjamin really caught my eye. On his site, Mark Grantham: Photographer a section is devoted to his shoots with Benjamin and I loved the work, especially the shots of Benjamin standing alone, naked, on the highway (see one below), which are exceptional.
'Benjamin was an amazing model - one of my first muses really. He was also one of my first digital subjects - a point that was driven home when I lost part of our first shoot somehow (he readily agreed to reshoot the lost material the next week further proving what a great guy he was). All told we worked together 3 times.'
'About the time of our 3rd shoot he was shot for Playgirl Magazine, appearing a few months later as the centerfold. By the time the magazine came out he had already stopped modeling (it was just a lark for him in the first place). I lost track of him for several years, but we found each other again on line last year. He is now a chocolatier, creating hand crafted gourmet chocolates for gourmet markets.'
Benjamin is also the focus of one of Mark's books (Benjamin 2008) with close to 50 pages of the incredible images of Mark created with Benjamin. You can check out more of Mark's books and preview Benjamin on blurb HERE:
Mark Grantham Official Site:
Mark Grantham on Model Mayhem:
Benjamin by Mark Grantham on blurb:
