Collaborating with Yogi Benjamin Sears
November 10, 2022
After practicing yoga at Bozeman studio Bend Beyond for over a year, the name Benjamin Sears makes me think of pop-up classes and workshops. Benjamin has a fresh and inspiring presence that the community always appreciates. In recently asking owner Kristyn Baribeau if she had any photographers to refer him to, he was pointed in my direction.
Benjamin reached out in mid-October of this year and admitted that he was in a bind. He had wanted to capture the beautiful trees on his new property, but their bright, fall colors seemed to have just peaked. We were able to shoot the following week and I found the seasonal colors to have held beautifully without the overwhelming vibrance that sometimes turns me off from those cliché autumn photos.
After a drive that was almost as scenic as what would be the lodge itself, I arrived at the LUXYOGA Bozeman House resort twenty minutes east of Bozeman. Benjamin greeted me and showed me around the property. While he showed me around, I could feel him comprehending more and more how real his dreams were becoming. That’s one of my favorite parts of photography. The validity that photos can give each being or thing is the power to take on their own agency at any given moment. That power is intimidating as fuck.
As I have said and will say again, yoga photography is the backbone of Photo Bon. It is what pushes me to collaborate with those who are within different realms of their practice on something we can become proud of. Benjamin admitted that yoga photoshoots made him more nervous than any part of his teaching or filming. After sharing that, he continued to acknowledge the ways in which I am able to critique his poses in order to ensure correct technique. Benjamin acknowledged my yoga practice as a tool that I can use for my photography. With the help of my subjects, my passions for yoga and photography continue to reveal the ways in which they serve one another. Specifically, in this case, my yoga practice gave me more confidence in making changes and model cues within my photography.
In creating a space where both the subject and the photographer can be vulnerable and honest, photos that tell the subject’s story can be captured.
My favorite part about this shoot was the roll that we got on and couldn’t get off. After starting at 2pm, I just barely made the meeting I had in Bozeman at 6pm, which I find to be a great sign. We questioned everything which kept us on this creative roll. Is this the correct angle in consideration of the sun? Are we on the best spot of the property to highlight this pose? What if we did an outfit change? I want my clients to know that I am confident in taking creative control, but I never want the collaboration to be one-sided. I find that when it comes to yoga (and most) projects, another point of view is always valuable.
