Work Wednesday: Mark Bennington
Moriah Ratner | Staff Photographer
Mark Bennington has recently returned from Mumbai, India where he photographed Bollywood actors. He’s turning the headshots into a novel to be released soon.
After Mark Bennington’s grandfather, an avid amateur photographer, died, he left his grandson with all of his cameras and lenses.
“One day, I looked up through the tears and literally saw these cameras,” Bennington said. “I thought, ‘Let me take photographs and take headshots of all my friends who were actors.’”
He brought the equipment to a camera store, and a worker helped Bennington through the process. Bennington took headshots of his acting friends and brought the shots to his agency.
The company loved them, and Bennington’s name quickly became known in the field of photography for his work with headshots. He now teaches photography in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
“(The photography world) is a really small place, and it can even be divided into subsections — like I was known in the world of headshots,” Bennington said. “Headshots in the world of photography is like you’re the soup chef at Denny’s.”
Bennington met David Alan Harvey, a famous photographer for National Geographic. Harvey suggested that Bennington publish a book that documents the acting community in Los Angeles. A year later, he was planning a trip to India and decided to photograph Bollywood actors, in Mumbai, India, instead.
“I go to Mumbai and the doors just open. I just happen to meet someone who introduced me to a lawyer, who represents actors in Bollywood, who introduced me to a producer, who introduced me to everyone, who introduced me to a casting director, who gave me the keys to the city,” Bennington said.
People in the acting community gave Bennington a list of actors to feature in his book. Bennington spent much of his time in India watching movies to learn about the performers. He also called and emailed people constantly to get in touch with actors. His book is now being published by HarperCollins and will launch in India in six months.
“I love my creative life, but photography is my full-time thing,” Bennington said. “I will stick to that. It’s vibrant and busy.”
Published on April 22, 2015 at 12:01 am
Contact: maquigle@syr.edu
