Ben Clements Photography
The Australian photographer believes he has one of the best jobs in the world.
INTERVIEW: BEN CLEMENTS
Photographers love to shoot on location. So if - like Ben Clements - your ‘patch’ takes in the beautiful beaches of New South Wales, you can consider yourself a lucky man.
Add on the fact that you spend a lot of time on those beaches taking pictures of attractive naked women, and there aren’t many people who wouldn’t want to change places with him.
But Ben protests - albeit with the hint of a smile on his face - that it isn’t all part of some master plan. “To date, I have only shot females,” he admits, “but not intentionally. It’s only because I haven’t been approached by any males to work together yet. I’m open to offers.”
Most of the nude work he is commissioned to do is for artistic purposes. “It’s a collaboration between myself and the client, which is what I love doing. The people you see featured here and on my website aren’t models: they’re just ordinary people being themselves and doing the things they love. And who, for a variety of reasons, want a set of professionally taken photos of themselves, naked. I shoot a mix of portraits and more stylized or themed collections. Some are for dancers, actresses or yoga teachers for their portfolios. Others are just for fun: people doing it for their partners, or maybe just themselves. Why not?”
Ben currently estimates that the time he spends on nude photography compared to the other aspects of his work is around 50/50. “In the last couple of years, I’ve reduced the amount of commercial work I’ve been doing and put more focus into working with people who want to express themselves. It’s enjoyable because we work together to create images they can be proud of. And it helps them embrace the freedom of being nude.”
Alternative
Ben is based in Bellingen, a dot on the map about 12 miles inland, straddling the Waterfall Way, which links the beaches of the New South Wales mid-north coast with the Great Dividing Range. It might sound like typical small-town Australia, but “Bello” as it’s known to the locals has had many lives, from timber-mill town to hippie hideout, and local journalist Peter Geddes recently produced a documentary about Bellingen’s hippie era in the 1970s and 1980s, when Booker prize-winning novelist Peter Carey was a resident and alternative lifestylers like Peter “rented houses for $2 a week and used to ride into town on horseback. I’m a little surprised how straight it’s become in the past few years,” says Peter. “People wear clothes now.”
That attitude might help explain Ben’s liberal take on life in what, after all, can sometimes still be a conservative country.
“Nudity is offensive to some people,” Ben concedes. “But for others, it can be playful, empowering, sensual and much more. It might sound a little morbid, but working in operating theatres for eight years exposed me to all shapes, sizes and personalities. It may have desensitised me to nudity in some ways, but I’ve never understood why people are so fearful of hiding their bodies. It’s a great feeling to be naked in nature.” His interest in photography started as a kid. “I remember looking at old photos of my parents when they were younger. There was one of my dad riding a motorbike, and one of my mum standing by a river. I always used to look at them and wonder about their lives before children came on the scene.”
Study
He began dabbling in photography in his early twenties whilst working in the medical sector, before deciding to take night courses at TAFE, a leading provider of vocational education and training in Sydney. “It opened up a world of possibilities,” he recalls. “I decided it was time to get more serious about it. I signed up to study part-time, juggling it with family and work commitments in both Cairns and Melbourne, and started assisting some well-known photographers in the industry. It wasn’t long before I began getting my own photography jobs and securing regular commercial commissions. Although I still enjoy this kind of work, I find myself more drawn to working one-on-one with people or in small groups doing things they love - like naturism - and achieving a result they want for themselves rather than for the company they work for.
“I’m happy to work with whoever would like to work with me. My nude work is created in tandem with the person or people I’m working with, and although I obviously have my style, I’m keen to also hear what their thoughts are. If we can get together face-to-face before the shoot, we talk through ideas to get a good guide to the type of images they’ll be happy with. If not, we exchange sample photos from my back catalogue or style ideas off the internet and discuss lighting, composition and location options.
“The locations I shoot in are usually either somewhere I know will work for the shoot, or somewhere the client connects with. Many of them are in the stretch of coast between Byron Bay and Port Macquarie, but I’m more than prepared to travel further afield if required.”
So, what are the pros and cons of studio versus location work?
“Studios are great for controlled light, an option when we have adverse weather, and as a private location if the client is a little self-conscious of nudity in outdoor situations. But I love location work: it offers something different all the time, whether it’s in a forest, at a swimming spot, or one of the many random funky little cabins that are always popping up on Airbnb.”
And how does he promote himself?
“Social media and my website (www.benc.com.au) mainly, but repeat business and word-of-mouth works by far the best for me. When someone tells their friends that they enjoyed the process and are happy with the images we created, it shows trust in me and my work, which is particularly essential for nude photography.”
As for the future, Ben says he is always open to new ideas and concepts. “I’d love to travel overseas for work, to experience different cultural ideas and practices in naturist communities and to explore different artistic nude opportunities. I’ve always found that naturist groups have a sense of community that encourages people to be themselves and explore things outside ordinary social expectations. In my experience of social media, the number of genuine naturists seems to be increasing all the time, despite the challenges of censorship. It’s nice to see people having the freedom to be themselves and be creative at the same time. As the naturist movement grows, it increases the appreciation for artistic nudity and helps people like me grow with my work as well.”
Paul Rouse
