Ben Arnon is a New York and Los Angeles-based visual journalist who specializes in documentary, editorial, and travel photography. He documents the unflinching honesty of people’s lives, and is particularly interested in examining socio-economic, class, and racial themes amongst and within communities of people. Ben is intrigued by the unique group dynamics and social performances that take place within different sub-cultures of people.
Photographs from Ben’s most recent work, entitled "RIO," were on view throughout New York’s Chelsea Market from October 1 to December 31, 2016. During October and November 2016, Ben had four photographs on exhibition at the central atrium of the Atlanta Airport.
In 2016, photographs from Ben’s “Black Lives Matter” series were exhibited at Davis Orton Gallery and the Griffin Museum of Photography, as well as an exhibition called Truth To Power during the 2016 DNC Convention in Philadelphia. They were also displayed from Oct 4 through Election Day at Wake Forest University at an exhibition focused on young people and civic engagement. Lastly, Ben’s “Willets Point” series was featured at Photoville in September 2016 as part of a multimedia presentation entitled ‘Battle of the Boroughs.’
Ben received an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management in Los Angeles and a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies in Society & Culture from Emory University in Atlanta. Additionally, Ben has taken numerous courses at the International Center of Photography and Aperture Foundation, both located in New York. At Emory, Ben published a thesis entitled ‘Packaging Racial Identities: Market Segmentation in the U.S. Recorded Music Industry’ which examined the ways in which race has historically been utilized in the production, distribution, and marketing of recorded music.
Along with his studies, Ben’s visual journalism work is also informed by his experiences of working in various business roles within the music, film, and technology industries from 1998 to 2015.
Ben writes frequently for the Huffington Post (http://huffingtonpost.com/ben-arnon), offering social commentary on a wide array of topics including visual arts, culture, society, digital media, and politics.
