Bio

Steven Benson is a photographer/videographer, educator and independent curator. He is a former Professor of Photography/Video and Chair of the Southeast Center for Photographic Studies, School of Photography and Media Studies at Daytona State College. He holds a BFA from the College for Creative Studies and MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. He is the recipient of three Creative Artist Grants-Michigan Council for the Arts and a NEA/ArtsMidwest Fellowship. His work is represented in numerous collections including the Museum of Fine Art-Houston, Detroit Institute of Arts, Bibliotheque Nationale-France, Centre Georges Pompidou, Museet for Fotokunst-Denmark. Solo exhibitions of his photography include the Centre Georges Pompidou and photography festivals/biennials/triennials in Argentina, South Korea, Germany, Syria, Poland, China, Denmark and FotoFest (2004 & 2008). A retrospective of his work was on view at the Southeast Museum of Photography in 2012. The Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala, Fl. exhibited, ‘Invented Observations’, a survey exhibit of early B&W work made over thirty-years was on view for eight-months during 2022. The Russian curator, Dr. Irina Chmyreva, is including a series of hand-colored images, “Incantations”, in her exhibition for Pingyao Festival of Photography in China, “Spiritual Landscape”, 2023. Steven is a Contributing Curator for the SE Museum of Photography (2014-Present). Curatorial projects have included; “Roger Ballen: in Retrospect – Four Decades of Photography and Video”; ‘Mind Over Matter: The Photography of Arno Rafael Minkkinen’ among others. A selection from Steven’s photography collection, ‘Gathering Light’, was on exhibition at the museum, curated by Whitney Broadaway, Museum Director; 2022. He has served on the National Board of Directors of the Society for Photographic Education and is currently VP on the Board of Directors of ASMP Greater Florida and VP of the Board of Directors of SNAP! Orlando. Steven specializes in editorial, annual report and advertising photography. He has been sent on assignment throughout North America and Europe, as well as, Mexico, the Caribbean, Russia, Brazil and Japan for clients such as AT&T, Ford, Chrysler, General Motors, Unisys, Borg-Warner, Allied Signal, Hughes JVC Technology Corporation and Canadian National Railroad, among others.