We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anthony Bennetts a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Anthony thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I would say the first time that I knew I wanted to pursue the arts professionally, was when I was a senior in high school. That year, I was taking yearbook and graphic print shop classes. They helped me get interested into graphic design and wanted to pursue that after high school. I did a year of graphic design in community college, because it really didn’t grabbed my attention like I thought it would. I didn’t and wouldn’t know that I wanted to pursue photography as career, more like side career, until the end of 2021. I say side career, because I really enjoy the job I have now working for a non-profit organization. Photography helps me stay in the present moment.
Anthony, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
First and foremost, I want to say thank you for giving me this opportunity. I’m truly grateful. Let me introduce myself; my name is Anthony Bennetts, and 30 years old. I was born in Kingman, Arizona, grew up in Escondido, California, and now residing in Ypsilanti, Michigan. I am an amateur photographer that mainly photograph urban settings, nature, animals, classic cars. I am exploring into taking photos of people and live actions sports. I take all my photos with my Samsung Galaxy S20FE, and all my editing is done with Adobe Photoshop Express. What got me into photography, I would have to say my grandma and my aunt. Either 1 or both were always taking pictures of family events and gatherings, vacations/staycations, and everything that was special. Then they would use them in scrapbooks. With them doing, that made me appreciate the small things and be present in the moment.
I’ve always been drawn to the art world and the creative world. It helps express one’s thoughts and feelings and emotions, and experiences. In high school, I did yearbook. I did graphic design for a year in college. I didn’t really get back into photography till 2021, and since then, I just started running with it. I only do photography as a hobby at the moment
I’m really into black and white photos. To me, it shows the true rawness and emotions that one is trying to capture or bring out. Landscapes, nature, and urban settings are my main focus and the ones that I know I do the best. I would love to start taking photos of people, more than I do at the moment.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Yes, I do have one very specific goal/mission that I am working towards. I would like to get my photos into books and have different types of books of my work. For example; capturing the architecture of houses and buildings of neighborhoods in different cities. Also, write a brief history of the neighborhoods. I just want to inspire other people to get into or explore the arts more often. The arts help one think outside the box and can see things in a different perspective.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
First, support from the local artists that I’m your area. Go to fairs, farmer markets, swap meets/flea markets, join local art groups, check out local art museums, check out social media, share their work online(with their permission first).
Contact Info:
- Website: https://anthonybennetts.smugmug.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/anthonyjames_734?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==