Wendy Stuart will be hosting TriVersity Talk! this Wednesday at 7 PM ET with featured guest Ben Fink.
TriVersity Talk! is a weekly web series with featured guests discussing their lives, activism and pressing issues in the LGBTQ Community. With TriVersity Talk!, the goal is to laugh and learn.
TriVersity Talk! Is part of TriVersity’s ICARE Initiative. ICARE stands for Increasing Community Awareness through Relevant Education. ICARE Programs are generously funded by The Greater Pike Community.
Ben Fink: Born in Baltimore in 1963, multidisciplinary artist and photographer Ben Fink found his early years shaped by hardships and personal tragedy. He lost both parents while still a child, setting into motion a turbulent life marked by numerous relocations and transient adult support. Fortunately, Ben found refuge and a deep connection in the expressive power of art. It provided a mode of personal investigation to the neglected child. He channeled the essence of his bitter experiences into a growing artistic vision. Ben’s distinctive talent gained him access to the Memphis College of Art and later the University of Memphis. There he began exploring the traditions of painting, graphic design, photography, and art history. He began to blend photography with digital art, resulting in compelling and disturbing early works that explored themes of societal neglect and the quest to secure acceptance, as evident in the “Mill Street” series and “From Another Room.” Ben relocated to New York City in the late ’90s. The geographical change marked a pivotal expansion of his artistic strengths, as he engaged with the vibrant commercial scene. Ben attained success as a photographer for major corporate brands like American Express. He soon become the trusted photographer for iconic food personalities and media stars, including Bobby Flay, Trisha Yearwood, and Eva Longoria, as well as the Culinary Institute of America, documenting their culinary creations for bestselling cookbooks.
He also contributed the photo design for the cookbook for the pioneering AIDS charity, God’s Love We Deliver. In all, Ben has provided visuals for more than 300 cookbooks, earning attention in high-profile national publications and garnering accolades from the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) and James Beard Foundation. These professional achievements developed concurrently with Ben’s deeper quest for personal artistic projects. These include project series like “Shadow Realms” and “Modern Mythology.” Such works explored complex social themes and showcased haunting narratives, delving into memory and personal identity, especially the artist’s fragmented youth. These beautiful but unsettling works established Ben as a notable figure in photography circles. Today, Ben Fink remains a rare artist who can claim success in both commercial and independent circles. He has forged a career as a fearless chronicler of life’s visible and hidden facets. From communities in Memphis to haunting landscapes in his “Shadow Realms” series, his works appear in prestigious exhibitions from New York to Los Angeles. Ben Fink’s latest coffee table book, Noble Deeds, is the result of a seven-year period of documenting the grand spectacle of the LGBTQ International Court System. His painterly portraits merge photography with epic narrative to highlight issues of personal identity and social rebellion. His forthcoming project, Modern Myth and Mythology, will be the next achievement in a career dedicated to melding artistic precision with social commentary. Ben Fink’s work continues to tell stories that provoke thought, challenge norms, and celebrate the resilience and diversity of humanity.
Watch TriVersity Talk! Live on Wednesday at 7 PM ET on Youtube here:
https://www.youtube.com/@TriVersityCenter
The official website for the TriVersity Center may be found at https://www.triversitycenter.org