Award-Winning Teen Photographer Shoots for the Future

A mere year after winning a National Gold Medal at Carnegie Hall for her photo “The Yellow," 16-year-old Isabel Bennett is enjoying a burgeoning business. Taking portraits, conducting in-home photography classes and snapping photos at events, Bennett says that winning an award for “The Yellow” was only the beginning. “It was the precursor for a lot of other good things,” she said.

"The Yellow," as part of the ART.WRITE.NOW exhibition, is on display in Pasadena and is keeping Bennett busy with interviews with local media.

Patch caught up with the young photographer to talk about her love for the lens:

Culver City Patch: Tell me about projects you enjoy.

Isabel Bennett: Well, I like to set up fanciful things—things that are totally out of the ordinary. I like think about a concept and then make it happen.

I don’t have a lot of equipment and I don’t have a studio of my own. I use a lot of desk lamps and garage lights to light my work; it’s very homemade. I’m very creative; there are so many things you can do.

Patch: How did you get into photography?

Bennett: I’ve had a camera for as long as I could remember. But I didn’t pursue it professionally until middle school.

I got an SLR camera last year, but I have always had a point-and-shoot. I now teach classes on Sundays and I do private photography tutoring. I love teaching. I also do portraits and events. Parents love the portraits. It’s great for me, because I love it.

Patch: What photographer do you look up to?

Bennett: I saw an exhibit last year in New York by Henri Cartier-Bresson. I love his work; I love black and white. I feel like it’s so classic and so real. He takes really regal pictures of icons.

Patch: What is your inspiration for “The Yellow”?

Bennett: I have a friend who’s name is Mina; she’s a ballerina, hence the backbend. Last year, I was trying to get a photography group together, because I was into photography and so were some of my friends. It was very spur of the moment. I set up the photo shoot in Baldwin Hills and brought some balloons. When I took the photo, Mina and I thought, “Hey, we have something really cool here.” Now we have a whole portfolio so it’s really cool.

Patch: Is this your favorite piece?

Bennett: It’s actually not my favorite. I recently took some great work. I’m really into street photos. I love portraits. I prefer photos with concepts, because I like to write about them as well. But “The Yellow” doesn’t have a particular meaning. I don’t have a meaning for it, but I wish I did. I was experimenting with my new camera, and I took it and said, "That’s cool."

I entered the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition on a whim; I didn’t think I would win. From that point on, I now take pictures with meaning, and am a little more diligent.

That was the beginning of a lot of other things. I am really on the track to doing photography professionally.

Patch: What are your plans for the future?

Bennett: I am going to apply to mostly art colleges. For the summer, I am going to CSSA, which is a summer program, part of CalArts in Valencia. I think it’s a sample of art colleges. However, next summer is the summer that I’ll be applying for colleges.

The ART.WRITE.NOW exhibition will be up at the Lineage Dance Performing Arts Center in Pasadena until June 4. Lineage Dance Performing Arts Center, 89 South Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, CA, 91105.