Smart, good-looking, popular, athletic and artistic – Susannah Benjamin is one of those kids that you know is going to do big things, but even in the lofty group of “most likely to succeed” Susannah sticks out. Even at the young age of 15, Susannah knows exactly what she wants. “I’ve always known I wanted to do something important, and I’ve always wanted to be an artist,” she says. And for this ambitious young woman, that “something important” involves photography. She has already been named Digital Magazine’s “Young Photographer of the Year,” placed fifth in the International Anne Frank Photo Contest, and has graced the cover of Greenwich Magazine with an article entitled “Top Teens to Watch.” She’s also had four photographs on the rotating Kodak Billboard in New York’s Times Square. With a confidence unusual for her age, this high school sophomore is already building a career.

Susannah lives in Connecticut with her parents and sister, and a menagerie of pets, including a fish named Duke and a one-eyed car – all rescued from the shelter where her sister works. She doesn’t know where the artistic genes come from. “My parents are lawyers,” says Susannah. “They aren’t artistically inclined, and my sister is into animals. She wants to be a vet. So I don’t where it comes from.” We may not know where it comes from, but we do know when it started. Susannah’s mom gave her a camera when she was 7 years old. “I didn’t really want a camera,” Susannah remembers. “I took it on vacation because I didn’t want to hurt my mom’s feelings. I started using it and realized I really liked it.” Soon enough, Susannah was stealing her mother’s “better” digital camera, and a couple of years later; she got her Nikon SLR for Christmas. This time, though, it was on the top of her wish list.

Don’t expect “snapshots” or “glam” shots from this young artist. She isn’t interested in fashion photography or cute pics of friends – an “interesting” face intrigues her much more than a beautiful face. “I see ‘pretty’ differently than most people,” she says. She is also into conceptual photography, which she calls her “brain work.” Her latest series is a collection of photos entitled “Constricted Women,” which “demonstrates the social constrictions of women all over the world by turning metaphorical restrictions into real, visual restrictions, such as a sheet, netting, or garbage bag.” Susannah believes she can tell a story with every photograph, and as a gifted writer, as well; she likes the idea of combining her two passions.

“I love both, but with photography I get instant gratification,” she says. And because she uses friends as actors in her one-image productions, she gets her social fix. On that score, she is a typical high school kid. She loves hanging out with friends. At school she is known as the “art person.” She is already thinking about college – NYU is her first choice, but dad is pushing Yale. Either way, she says photography will play prominently. “I’ve never considered another career other than art.” Susannah Benjamin is one to watch.

Written by: Erin Clark

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