"And The War Raged On" is representative of the body of work that I've been creating for the past several years—transforming everyday people into characters in romantic and fantastical modern mythology—working with models from all walks of life–from doctors to sex workers to other artists. Through extensive post-production, I put them into settings of epic proportion. These models are observed through an objectifying gaze which simultaneously casts them as hypermasculine while also allowing them to be vulnerable. Others in the body of work question gender identity and role-playing, and there's even a nod to the idea of beings that might not be entirely human.

Honorable Mention at the “Vienna Photo Awards”

Recently the work I’ve been doing received an honorable mention at the annual “Vienna Photo Awards.” This is the second year in a row that I was honored with this decoration.

“A Lovers Quarrel” Censored, Limited Edition, Art By ©Ben Fink,

Archival pigment print and Mix-media and Encaustic Painting, Signed and numbered, verso. Price Upon Request,

In April 2021 I met Adrian and Rick who are life partners in Palm Springs where we capture these images. They were in from Boston where they live full time, visiting some friends for a few days in PS, we set up a background in the garage and proceeded to do a number of shots to capture the base imagery for what becomes these final pieces.

We worked about three hours shooting various scenarios using old paintings as inspiration that I have close on hand either on my phone or computer. Often I send these references to my models ahead of time so they will have some sort of idea what I have in mind. On occasion they send me images back that they find inspiring. This opens up a line of communication that they truly become collaborators in the process. Capturing Adriane and Rick, together and separately I created a library of imagery that I used later as a base for the work.

In recent weeks I’ve been collaborating with the writer Terrel Hale of Georgetown. The process is as followed, I create the images as well as the titles, after which I send them to Terrel and he goes into his magical macrocosm of making us see a world through words. When I asked him recently to give me a synopsis of his process below is the description I received, “A One Man 4 Act Play.” I think his description is so beautiful how he views his process. Words don’t have to be so descriptive of the image but, could allude to what’s going on giving us a possible backstory or leave it open for the viewers and readers' interpretation.