Hey, you look familiar. Have we met before?

Greetings, This blog has existed in some form or another for the past 5 years. I have now moved it to it's permanent location here at my new website www.nicholasbenner.com. Since this is a new beginning of sorts, I would like to start off with a quotation. I know, how cliche, but it's one that has stuck with me since becoming a photographer.

"We are surrounded by images that are worn out, and I believe that unless we discover new images, we will die."– Werner Herzog.

I'm not sure if Herzog really believes that we will actually die, but I do think he believes that if we do not find new, fresh images of life, we will be living in a world not worth living in. So, the subject for my first post is a gentleman who doesn't necessarily bring us new images, but he does provide us with new ways to receive them.

Richard Shneider is the President and CEO of Antennas Direct. A company that sells over-the-air antennas that receive digital HD signals. The 7-year-old company grossed $8.6 million in 2010, could double that figure in 2011 and has been on Inc. magazine’s list of fastest-growing privately owned companies for the past three years. What's interesting about what Schneider is doing, is not necessarily the technology, it's been around since the 50's, but the way it's changing peoples television habits. These antennas basically allow you to ditch your cable subscription that usually runs around $80 a month and supplement your over the air channels with online media sources like Hulu and Netflix. Read the full story here.

It's always nice when your subjects can appreciate what you are trying to do, which is make an interesting image that will engage readers and persuade them to spend their precious reading time on this specific article. Schneider was a good sport, even adding ideas and props. I was very happy with the final images.

Thanks for tuning in. Come back as often as you like.

Sincerely,

-nic

Focal length

Lately I have been noticing that the photographs I am making of Cohen have been from a different distance than before. There is a little more space between him and I. Each step away from me is a step closer to Cohen’s independence. There is a constant look of wonder in his eye as he climbs through this new world of his. It seems like he’s lost in this mad fog of new sounds and colors and loving every minute of it.

The photographs that I am making are still in nature, but when put together they are slow moving cogs in the documentation of Cohen’s existence. Each frame a different moment that speaks of the present, nods at the past and winks at the future. There will come a time when these pictures will be all we have of this time in Cohen’s life. These pixels, saturated with the memories of his childhood, will be the first entries in the most important timeline that I will ever be a part of.

Children=Doritos

"We are accustomed to repeating the cliche, and to believing, that 'our most precious resource is our children.' But we have plenty of children to go around, God knows, and as with Doritos, we can always make more. The true scarcity we face is practicing adults, of people who know how marginal, how fragile, how finite their lives and their stories and their ambitions really are but who find value in this knowledge, even a sense of strange comfort, because they know their condition is universal, is shared." — Michael Chabon (Manhood for Amateurs)

nocent, gentle, curious, and perfect. I believe that all those things are rooted in his trust of Tana and I, and as Chabon says, our ability to convey to him just how marginal, fragile and finite our lives really are.

It is very easy for me to love Cohen and to walk through the motions of being a "good" father. What is not easy, is being a good parent, which sadly, is very different from being a "good" father. The standard for being a good father is pitifully low in my opinion. Traditionally the father is the bread winner, that's it. He doesn't make the meals, change the diapers or clean up the puke. He just sits back, occasionally throws a ball or two in the child's direction, and cooks meat on the grill.

To teach Cohen the humility and civility that I feel is important in making him a successful human being, I have to continue to grow and learn myself. I have to realize that cleaning up puke is an intimate moment shared between a father and his son. I need to understand that changing a shitty diaper is a lesson in humility. Those things will allow me to create the impenetrable bond between Cohen and I that is not present between most fathers and sons.

Sayonara mother f#%&@#

Well, Cohen's new thing is to run around the house yelling "DIE, DIE, DIE," which he learned from watching Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" I admit that gluttony, addiction, mindlessness and selfishness are too advanced for Cohen to understand at 19-months, but I still thought that he might come away with something else besides "die, die, die." Should we be worried, or should we embrace the fact that we have a potential serial killer for a son? Hey, I mean having a little Dexter running around might not be that bad. So with that in mind, here is Cohen playing Die Hard at Tony's Pizza.

Snow bound in Houston

I traveled to Houston last week to run the Houston Marathon with my good friend Curtis. I ended up being stuck there for a week due to weather conditions back in Missouri. But, thanks to the hospitality of Curtis, the conversations with Joye and Chazz's home cooking, I had a great time and felt right at home. It's funny where life takes us. Curtis and I went to high school together and were roommates after graduation. His father and my father were best friends and he was the best man at my wedding. Even though we live in different states and lead completely different lives now, every time we are together, it feels right. I think sharing your formative years with someone creates a bond that time and distance can't erode. That is something very special to me and I hope I never take it for granted.