Ben Thomas is a photographer and visual artist born in Adelaide, based in Victoria, Australia. He focuses mostly on exploring the built environment; cities, the spaces we enhabit, and our urban surroundings. We featured a collection of his images on the @worldphotorg feed.
Hi Ben. Please introduce yourself and your photography to our audience
My name is Ben Thomas and I'm an artist based in Melbourne, Australia. My work is a study of the built environment, the people that interact with it and ultimately, how people perceive these surroundings.
Tell us about the series of images we featured. Do you have a favourite, and why?
The works seen here were captured within a year of each other. The four cities (New York, Paris, Dubai and Tokyo) are totally unique to each other and give a fascinating insight into concept of the megatropolis. I loved my time in each of these cities but there is something that constantly drives me back to Tokyo. Tokyo encapsulates enguiniety at its best which is reflected in its overarching focus on purposeful design and aesthetic. I can't wait to get back there.
Why photography? What does the medium mean to you?
I never knew picking up a camera for the first time that it would be something I would love so much. It's what drives me. I feel lucky that feeling hasn't changed over the years too - there's a lot more pictures out there to take.
Do you have a photographic philosophy?
Do it for yourself.
What inspires you?
The idea that there's (a lot of) things out there that I have no idea about. People to meet, stories to listen to and pictures to take.
