Ben Greenberg
Ben Greenberg is a lifelong resident of Virginia who moved back to Charlottesville in 2002. He has photographed scenic vistas in Virginia, the mid-Atlantic area and locations across the United States for more than forty years. His carefully crafted images have won local and national awards and competitions and have been exhibited in numerous individual and group shows, as well as having been purchased for hundreds of private collections.
Ben takes great pride in creating photographic images of the highest quality true to his subjects. He uses the best of traditional and new cutting edge photographic technology to portray the natural beauty of his subjects. The dramatic nature of Ben’s images reflects the effort he makes to photograph his subjects only at the time when conditions are perfect. His photographs and all materials used in their presentation meet the highest archival museum quality standards for a lifetime of enjoyment.
Ben repeatedly visits and photographs his subjects – scenic mountains, landscapes, rivers and shorelines of Virginia and the nation – for the most dramatic images. Locations of his Virginia images include UVA and central Virginia, the James River, Blue Ridge Parkway, Skyline Drive/Shenandoah National Park, Tangier Island, the Southwest and the Eastern Shore. He has also focused his cameras on national and state parks and beautiful locations in one-third of our fifty states.
Ben’s Artist Statement, written in conjunction with a recent solo show at C’ville Arts Gallery in June 2013 …
I have a love affair with the state of Virginia. I treasure its natural beauty and remarkable diversity from the Eastern Shore to the Blue Ridge Mountains, from the highlands of Southwest Virginia to the Great Falls on the Potomac River. I am expressing this love affair through my upcoming book, Natural Virginia, by celebrating that varied and breathtaking scenery with panoramic landscape photographs from throughout the Commonwealth.
I am an environmentalist. I have always appreciated the natural environment and our responsibility for its preservation. My passion for photography only enhanced that appreciation and increased my desire for all to be able to enjoy the experiences I have had and more, much more. We have come a long way in Virginia and the nation in our commitment to the environment. Yet, there remain serious dangers to our natural world. This is something for which we all should be aware and vigilant in helping to prevent.
I am dedicating Natural Virginia to every individual who shares my pleasure in experiencing first hand the state’s scenic wonders. I also devote my first photography book to the organizations and persons committed to preserving Virginia’s fragile environment for the enjoyment of current and future generations. I will experience great satisfaction if this book contributes in any way to protecting the locations found in my images and other natural places throughout Virginia.
Natural Virginia takes its name from the types of photographs that are the primary focus of my photographic attention. I seek landscape photographs that are natural with minimal human impact. In my book one will not find photographs from gardens or orchards. There may be a road or two, a fence or a building, but they aren’t the primary reason why I captured that image. I also seek to capture the broader landscape rather than more intimate images.
I have set a personal goal to eventually photograph the natural scenic beauty of all fifty states in a meaningful way. I have now done serious photography in approximately one-third of the states. While that is a future goal of mine, I continue to be most moved by the opportunity to photograph the natural beauty I find throughout my home state of Virginia where I have lived all my life. Despite decades of capturing photographs in the Commonwealth, I continue to seek and find locations that impress and inspire me to keep shooting.
Space limitations prevent me from sharing in this show as many photographs as I would like or as many photographs as you will find in Natural Virginia when it is published by early next year. That said, I hope you enjoy those images I have shared with you and you are able to take away from this exhibit some appreciation for my passion for photography, for the beauty of the natural world in which we live and a commitment to helping preserve that natural beauty forever.
Ben Greenberg
Ben Greenberg Photography
P.O. Box 1046
Charlottesville, VA 22902
Mobile Phone: 804-467-8212
E-mail: ben@bengreenberg.com
Website: www.BenGreenberg.com
Website for book, Natural Virginia: www.naturalvirginiabook.com