{"id":487037,"date":"2026-03-21T04:25:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T04:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/487037\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T04:25:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T04:25:11","slug":"ben-zanks-portraits-teeter-between-surrealism-and-the-mundane-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/487037\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Zank\u2019s Portraits Teeter Between Surrealism and the Mundane \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tensely contorted or standing pin straight, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.benzank.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Ben Zank<\/a>\u2019s signature <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/tags\/ben-zank\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">faceless subjects<\/a> evoke ineffable yet familiar emotions. <\/p>\n<p>The New York City-based photographer has a knack for turning ordinary settings and unaccompanied figures into strangely perplexing sights. Mismatched socks, bold garments, and awkward poses go a long way in evoking a visceral response through his lens, tapping into a sort of uncanny realism.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/zank-9-960x686.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-470818\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"686\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/zank-9-960x686.jpg\" alt=\"a surreal portrait by photographer Ben Zankn depicting a contorted figure sliding off the edge of a bed\" class=\"wp-image-471418\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Zank\u2019s work traveled to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/cargo_festival_photo?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&amp;igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Festival Cargo Les Photographiques<\/a>\u2014a.k.a. The Cargo Festival\u2014in Saint-Nazaire, France last summer. Since its debut in 2022, the annual event typically features several outdoor exhibition areas, highlighting contemporary photographers.<\/p>\n<p>The artist\u2019s plein air installation for the festival included large reproductions of images affixed to leaning wooden pallets and covering brick walls. The minimalist, Earth-toned portraits complemented their surroundings, scattered across sparse grounds.<\/p>\n<p>Zank is currently working on a series that is focused on capturing strangers in their own homes, rather than the constructed settings he typically employs. Find more from the artist on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/benzank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/zank-4-960x720.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-470818\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/zank-4-960x720.jpg\" alt=\"an outdoor installation of surreal portraits by photographer Ben Zank\" class=\"wp-image-471414\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/zank-10-960x768.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-470818\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/zank-10-960x768.jpg\" alt=\"a surreal portrait by photographer Ben Zankn depicting a figure clutching two legs, almost as if he is contorted in a tense way\" class=\"wp-image-471599\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/zank-3-2-960x1200.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-470818\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/zank-3-2-960x1200.jpg\" alt=\"an outdoor installation of surreal portraits by photographer Ben Zank\" class=\"wp-image-471413\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/zank-12-960x720.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-470818\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/zank-12-960x720.jpg\" alt=\"a surreal portrait by photographer Ben Zankn depicting a figure fully clothed in a bathtub with bubbles, looking into a mirror\" class=\"wp-image-471613\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/zank-9-1-960x1174.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-470818\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"1174\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/zank-9-1-960x1174.jpg\" alt=\"a surreal portrait by photographer Ben Zankn depicting a figure covered in arrow signs\" class=\"wp-image-471598\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/zank-13-960x1173.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-470818\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"1173\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/zank-13-960x1173.jpg\" alt=\"a surreal portrait by photographer Ben Zankn depicting a figure wearing a pair of bold blue pants on his face, with glasses over them\" class=\"wp-image-471614\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/members\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"118516\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Colossal Member<\/a> now, and support independent arts publishing.<\/p>\n<p>Hide advertising<\/p>\n<p>Save your favorite articles<\/p>\n<p>Get 15% off in the <a href=\"https:\/\/colossal.shop\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Colossal Shop<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Receive members-only newsletter<\/p>\n<p>Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms<\/p>\n<p>\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tensely contorted or standing pin straight, Ben Zank\u2019s signature faceless subjects evoke ineffable yet familiar emotions. The New&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,172557,1120,96,13687,27081,19409,25203,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-487037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-ben-zank","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-humor","tag-installation","tag-portraits","tag-surreal","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}