INTERVIEW BY RAPHAEL BERETTA
A friendship spanning four years and several creative collaborations led Chun-Li “Ken” Huang and Ben Thomas Ward to one of the open studios in the Steel Plant. Using everything from Tame Impala and the score of “Ratatouille”, to giant fruit and the energy of onlookers as inspiration, the pair redefined the visual style of For the Record’s portraits.
“We lived on the same floor together in Leo freshman year...But Ken was always great with cameras. He'd been doing photography in high school (he went to a boarding school in Maine) And he always taught me a bunch of really cool camera techniques,” Ward said.
Ward’s interest in filmmaking merged with Huang’s photography experience. They started with small-scale short films. “We filmed the most random things in the dorms,” Huang chuckled. “I think sophomore year we got more serious.”
That seriousness extends only to their expertise of their craft; they have never lost the kinetic, spontaneous creative energy they formed early on. Every semester spent at Marist for the pair and their equally interesting group of friends has been documented by very experimental and often bizarre short films. Ward and Huang were able to bring this spirit to every future collaboration as they honed their skills behind the camera. Photography from the two has also been featured in the Steel Plant’s own gallery.
“He always inspired me with the things he did, like the Silver Needle runway sophomore year. I was really blown away by his portraiture, and I wanted to catch up in that way,” Ward said. His junior year he studied digital photography in Florence, Italy. When he came back to Marist, he worked with Huang on shooting the 2019 Silver Needle. “Ken gave me some great tips on how to photograph models, and where to position myself on the runway floor.”
They also worked together on the Marist Circle’s 2019 special initiative, a short documentary titled “Love, Interpreted.” While they worked side-by-side on every stage of the project, Huang shot much of the principle photography while Ward completed most of the editing.
The documentary’s series of interviews established a home for future collaboration: the Steel Plant. The open space and natural light of the painting labs provided the inspirational fodder for Huang and Ward’s unique brand of creativity.
Conceiving a new look for the portraits of For the Record was the first project of this size and magnitude that the pairing have taken on.
“This was an exciting change for me, and a challenging test,” Huang said. “I got the idea because I was looking at this other photographer that used a similar kind of style. He just had colored backdrops in the back with a second light [providing] color.”
This concept has been embraced by many of the premier publications of our time: New York Magazine, Time (100 Most Influential People), the New York Times Magazine, etc. The process wasn’t as simple as executing a great idea, though.
Huang and Ward spent the end of the fall semester of 2019 practicing. Using a long white backdrop and all the power of the Media Center’s color gels, they tested a new style. The results were immediately impressive, but not quite meeting their vision.
Ward’s personal love of movies and experiences with filmmaking contributed a lot to the photoshoots and working out the kinks. “Preproduction for film is so necessary, and Ben is very organized. He plans everything out and when you show up, everything is ready,” Huang said. Once Ward broke out a color wheel, matching backdrops with the gel colors for fill lighting on the subject’s faces became easier.
After ordering backdrops in five colors and shifting to an altered three-point lighting setup, they were ready to start shooting for real. “The kind of flash you might see on top of a camera at a red carpet, we set that up on a tripod behind the subject to light up the background. [That way] the vibrant colors of the backdrop would be just as bright,” Ward said. A raised key light shining at about a 45 degree angle was used to illuminate the subject and cast a shadow on one side of their face, which was then colorized by a fill light using gels.
“I think that the moment when you see the image popping up on the camera, and it's an actual image better than your expectation that's, that's like the happiest moment of the whole process,” Huang said.
The energy in the room was palpable everytime a potential “winner” was captured. Oftentimes there were two or more members of the editorial staff, three members of the art team, and other denizens of the Steel Plant sitting in on the process.
“It’s a little easier to take the photos when there's more people around, and when everyone's throwing out new ideas of where we should put which [piece of] lighting and how the model should stand or pose. So it's actually helpful to have more people,” Ward said.
This was never more apparent than during the shoot for a student nominated for their art. “I think the fun started when we put her on one of those carts, and started throwing around the [spray]cans,” Huang said.
With each shoot lasting upwards of an hour, the nominees had ample time to experiment and find the best methods of expressing themselves. Oftentimes this included wardrobe changes, and they brought a marvelous array of cultural garments, jackets and pants with varied designs, decorative pins and buttons, and even a live guinea pig.
Through the contributions of writers, artists, and two masters behind the camera, the portraits showcased the essence of each nominee, and the mission of this year’s iteration all at once.
“This was what the very colorful theme of this photoshoot was about. We wanted them to bring the most out of themselves,” Ward said. “The best part was being able to truly connect with the people that we were shooting.”
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