Performance and the Photographers Lens with Benji Reid

Develop your photography practice and explore self expression with Benji Reid in a two part workshop.

Part 1.

Through lecture demonstrations, assisted by images, Benji explores the drive to make work on a limited budget while working in confined spaces. Additionally, he delves into the outcomes of working on self-exploration through photography. The final phase of the workshop will focus on dissemination using social media and working with galleries.

Part 2.

Working with a single light setup and focusing on the eyes for the choreographer, photographer, and storyteller, participants will explore portraits and emotional landscapes. Through the use of different angles of light, participants will learn to tell stories through light and shade, with small shifts of the shoulders and expressions in the eyes. Participants can convey complex narratives using personal experiences as a starting point. 

Suitable to participants 18 years and older, with experience in photography and conceptual work through storytelling. 

Benji Reid

Benji Reid is a British photographer, visual theater maker, and educator. His work focuses on the intersection of race, nationhood and gender with particular attention to the Black British experience, Black masculinity, and mental health.

His photograph Holding on to Daddy (2016) was the winner of the Wellcome Photography Prize 2020 in the Mental Health category. A pioneer of Hip Hop Theatre and culture in the UK, Reid defines himself as a ‘Choreo-Photolist’, a term he coined to refer to the practice of merging theater and choreography in his photography. His work has been shown at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts in New York, Somerset House in London, and Design Fair Paris.

He attended the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, studying ballet, contemporary, choreography, and lighting design. After appearing in Alan Lyddiard’s production of The Tempest at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he auditioned for Soul II Soul, became chief dancer and co-choreographer for some of their numbers, and went on a world tour as part of the collective. Reid then trained for a year with David Glass, touring nationally with the David Glass Ensemble. He has worked with director Denise Wong and Black Mime Theatre, as well as directing Aeroplane Man by Jonzi D, and co-creating the pieces Silence da Bitchin’ and Cracked.

The hip hop musical Avalanche at Nottingham Playhouse marked the foundation of Reid’s own company, Breaking Cycles. Reid took part in the Hip-Hop Theater Festival in New York, and was the curator of The Illness at Sadler’s Wells in London. Reid’s show, The Holiday, toured to PS122 in New York, Sydney Opera House, the Linbury Theatre at the Royal Opera House, and more. In 2006, Reid founded Process 06, an opportunity to explore Hip Hop theater as an educational tool.

When his company was left without funds in 2011, Reid’s journey into photography started. His first photography exhibition was A Thousand Words at Contact Theatre. From a love note to his daughter to exploring mental health through surreal portraits and self-portraits, for Reid photography represents a possibility to celebrate love and fragility, challenging stereotypes of Black masculinity. Reid refers to his creative work as ‘part ritual, part photography, and part prayer.’