Ben Lawrence
Ben Lawrence (born 1973) is an Australian photographer and director of TV commercials and short films. He is the son of Australian film maker Ray Lawrence.
Ben Lawrence was born in London and is the recipient of many advertising awards, including a gold SHARK, a bronze Cannes lion, a New York Festivals Grand Award and a gold Mobius . He was also the first Australian director to be awarded a Clio for direction and in 2006 he was a recipient of the AICP award for “international excellence”[1] which saw his work housed in the permanent collection of MoMA. He has directed TV campaigns for Mitsubishi,[2][3][4][5] Amnesty International,[6] The Red Cross[7][8]& McDonalds.
In 2008 & 2009 he was nominated for an Australian Directors Guild award in the Best Direction of a Television Commercial category and was also recipient of the inaugural ADG, GRASS award[9] for his contribution to highlighting environmental causes within his work. He has directed environmental campaigns for the Climate Institute of Australia and the official Earth Hour TV campaign in 2008.
He is the co-founder of the Rozelle Protocol , a national initiative that aims to offset carbon emissions from television commercial productions in Australia. To date the initiative has a dozen signatories and has raised over $70,000 for the green economy.
He has had three solo exhibitions of his photographic work[10] and has been awarded at the International Photography Awards - ‘Lucies’ in New York and also recognised at the Black and White Spider awards for photojournalism. In 2013, Ben's Redfern, I Love You series of portraits was shortlisted in the Australian National Photography Portrait Prize.[11]
In 2002 he co-founded Caravan Pictures in Sydney, Australia.
In 2007, a book of his photography was published, ‘Short Stories’, a definitive collection of his work since 1989.
His 2007 short film Paul’s Dream, based on a short story by Stephen King Dollar Baby, was invited to screen at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the Clermont-Ferrand, Los Angeles International Short Film Festival, San Gio and São Paulo film festivals.
Notes
- ↑ Wilcha, K: Volume 46 No. 22e, page 1. SHOOT magazine, 2005
- ↑ McDonald, N: "Mitsubishi comes out fighting", The Australian, 1 December
- ↑ Canning, S: "Mitsubishi chief fights to keep brand rolling", The Australian, 6 December 2004
- ↑ Porter, I:"Mitsubishi into gear", Sydney Morning Herald, 12 April 2005
- ↑ Porter, I: "Mitsubishi happy to recognise a successful campaign", The Age, 12 April 2005
- ↑ Brook, S: "Ads ruled political footballs"
- ↑ Peacock, S: Adnews, 27 August 2004
- ↑ Corry, S: "Simplicity and humbleness attract a new breed of Blood donors", The Maitland Mercury, 13 August 2004
- ↑ Kaufman, T: "ADG Conference: the dinner - have fun and quote Orwell" page 5, ScreenHub 2005
- ↑ Stay in touch, Sydney Morning Herald 2007
- ↑ National Photographic Portrait Prize
References
- Paul's Dream imbd page
- New York Festivals Grand Award
- Mobius Awards listing
- International Photographic Awards- Lucies listing
- Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival listing
- Spider Awards honourable mention
- Black & White Spider Awards listing
- Australian Directors Guild nominations listing
- Australian Directors Guild nominations