Benny Horne Photography

If you are a fashion photographer with a knack of getting your model to relax in front of the camera, then you stand a chance of capturing the essence of the person you’re shooting. We believe that Benny Horne has this talent. People are attracted to his work because of the emotional, and seemingly personal, connection that he creates.

The Californian has worked with celebrities such as The Hunger Games’ Jennifer Lawrence, and actor Kate Hudson. Indeed, he started by assisting famous photographer Steven Klein, who has frequently collaborated with A-list stars, particularly Madonna. Horne’s many assignments include American model – and princess! – Kendra Spears, and Victoria’s Secret regular, Cara Delevingne. For Vogue Australia, Horne brought us a clash of regal and punk Delevingne.

His editorials are candid yet stylised, so that they’re capable of both personalising the subject, and impressing us with their artistry. His spot-on timing is the secret here, while his trick of using black and white allows him to contrast the organic beauty of the women against a monochrome background. The range of shades within greyscale encourages subtlety of expression and movement.

Benny Horne’s editorials and fashion portraits have appeared in Vogue editions for Russia, Turkey, China and Australia. Other publications include GQ, Dazed and Confused, Glamour, Harper’s, and Russh. We particularly liked the latter’s April/May 2013 cover story, where he portrayed the Australian model, Julia Nobis, in pale colours, offsetting her against the subdued warmth of a clay-coloured wall, and interspersing colour prints with black and white, to accentuate the washed-out look.

We have always admired his aesthetic – for example, in the way that he captured Tati Cotliar in “Ce Matin La” for Exit magazine in 2010. Since then, Horne has grown as a photographer. More recently, he devised a story of concert-going groupies for a music issue of Oyster Magazine, posing the same model against archived pictures of music fans, in modern-day pieces by Dolce e Gabbana, Marc Jacobs, Dries van Noten and others.

He has worked with brands such as Fendi and Yves Saint Laurent. Employing his skill with greyscale is an effective tactic in an advertising campaign, distinguishing it from other promotions. Its stark simplicity jumps out at us in our technological world, where we can conjure up whatever we want.

Here At Just The Design really like the way the young models are showcased, and the way in which Benny Horne suggests familiarity between them, even if there is none in reality. But we can’t be sure! Maybe that’s part of his appeal.