An ICONIK Production: 'High Dynamic Ranger'(2014). A creation by Benjamin D Hodson for Urbex :: Siam. In its own right an accumulation of five years work. A conceptual storyboard. At best the basis for a new graphic novel and what could be the start of an animated production. Not only a digital creation formed from the imaginary; the projects content draws from real-life moments captured in digital format and expressed through the creative eye of the photographer, using a process known as High Dynamic Range. All characters, locations, props and wardrobe are the real deal. Images were shot using Nikon camera equipment and rendered using Photoshop, Photomatix and various third party editing software.

As the artist, my personal approach has always been based on an informal development of ideas through real life. The narratives craft themselves. Nothing is preconceived. The world IS in its own right the narrator. The plot is life. And, generally speaking, the protagonist, merely a seeker and observer... The motivation, to craft ones own destiny free from sterile social constructs - the maddening of society. Life has become a construct crafted and corrupted by the needs of a few.

"In a society that's about to be turned upside down, it's better to be a solid person at the bottom than a hollow one at the top." -- Benjamin.

On an aesthetic level the imagery is overwhelmed by a mystical post-apocalyptic world. The seeker searches for the fundamental ambiguity of being human, the construct of ones own imagination. Are the characters of his world seekers or pure cliche? The objective is life, on ones own terms. The battle is keeping alive the evolution of this idea - spirituality. The creation of harmony and co-existence between society and the need for us to be the architects of our own personal constructs and not the subjects of others.

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Work by Ben Hodson
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Title: Project: HDR and Tone Mapping
Description: ICONIK shot in and around Thailand
Equipment: Nikon Coolpix L120 & Nikon D5100
Location: Thailand
Concept to Completion: On Going