When I launched benjaminarthur.com in early 2009 I was just starting to feel my way into the world of professional photography. The old site was a stake in the ground but, from a business generation point of view, no more than that. This new site is completely revamped from top to bottom. There are 4 main objectives that I set myself for the new site. First, I want it to be a place that showcases the best of my work and so would attract new clients. Secondly, I want it to be a place where people can simply and easily purchase any of my prints that are for sale. Thirdly, I want it to be an engaging, fully interactive place where people spend time and want to keep coming back to. Finally, I wanted to be in control of the content and now I am!  

With the relaunch of the site I am simultaneously launching a brand new photography blog which I call PUNCTUM.

Why the funny name? My good Czech friend, Jan Joska introduced me to the concept of punctum which was first elucidated by French cultural critic, Roland Barthes in his famous book on photography, Camera Lucida. The book investigates the impact of photography on the viewer – versus the photographer or indeed the subject itself which Barthes called the spectrum. I am hopeless at defining philosophical concepts accurately – even though I may understand them viscerally – so, with the help of that miracle of the modern age, wikipedia, I will explain the twin concepts of studium and punctum which are discussed at length in Camera Lucida. "Studium" is the cultural, linguistic and political interpretation of a photograph. "Punctum" is the highly personal touching detail which establishes a direct relationship with the object or person within it. This makes perfect sense to me. My work is all about emotional engagement. I want people to look at my photographs and feel something inside themselves… perhaps it is hidden deep and touches them to the core of their being or perhaps the feeling is negative in some way but either way I'd rather elicit something rather than the worst thing of all… indifference… a shrug of the shoulders. I learnt in my 13 years in the advertising industry that producing polarizing work which generates either strongly positive or negative responses almost always works best for a client. Now clearly my photographic work does NOT have anything in the way of shock value in it but I have had literally hundreds of people responding positively to it over the past 2 years. It is in part thanks to the encouragement of these people that I am a photographer today and hope to remain so until the day I draw my last breath.  

So what will Punctum be all about? This is something I will write about at length in another post but, very briefly it will be about the following; 1) It will be about my daily life as a snapper. 2) It will have updates on my most recent jobs including links to where to find those albums on the website. 3) I will try to initiate discussions about the world of contemporary photography; hot artists, issues facing the industry, new kit, trends that are out there and so on and 4) there will be a historical edge to it and I will write a lot about photographers from the past who move me in some way. I spent most of my life between the ages of 15 and 22 studying the history of art, architecture and sculpture. I feel qualified!

So all I would say is thank you for visiting the site! Please come back often, stay in touch with me (new email address; benjamin@benjaminarthur.com), contribute your comments to the blog posts and flag up any issues you may be having with the e-commerce functionality. I hope you enjoy all that benjaminarthur.com has to offer and look forward to garnering your feedback.

Blessings to you all, Benjie XX    

Tags: Benjamin Arthur Photography, benjaminarthur.com, Camera Lucida, Non-tutorials, photography in Prague, Punctum, Puntum, Roland Barthes, website relaunch