If you aren’t familiar with Benjamin Von Wong‘s work then keep reading for some of the most viral and impactful images created. Von Wong is an artist / photographer who creates elaborate projects focused on bringing awareness to environmental change.
His work often goes viral, with good intention. You might be familiar with the time he put a mermaid on top of 10,000 plastic bottles or when he set a Guinness World record with the largest art installation made made from 168,000 drinking straws recovered off the streets of Vietnam.
He may only accomplish 18 photos a year, 2 of which he may consider ‘successful,’ but the production that goes into is work his impressive in it’s own right. Von Wong has traveled the world teaming up with social impact activists and hundreds of volunteers over the course of his career to pull off his ambitious ideas.
His activism started when his grandiose fantasy photography lead him to commercial work. However, sometimes what you think you want doesn’t always turn out the way you’ve imagined it. Von Wong began asking himself “why create work only to move units off shelves?” It was this question that started him down a new more ambitious path that combined the work he was known for with art that had social impact.
Ben Von Wong uses his talent, knowledge, and art to focus on conservation and social impact projects. Watch his free ‘In Focus’ keynote to learn how to ignite conversations through the power of creativity. Watch now!
If you want your creativity to say more about what matters to you, here are 3 things Von Wong suggests you do:
- Commit. It’s never going to be easy to add rules into the creative process. Build it with the end in mind and when you hit road blocks, because you will, don’t dilute your idea with excuses. Use your creativity to find answers.
- Take Control. We’re all born with advantages and disadvantages. Maintaining control of what’s in your power rather than letting limitations dictate what you’re capable of will ultimately create a project with greater impact.
- Break Boundaries. Comfort is the deadly enemy of creativity. If you know how to do something push yourself 10% more to keep growing year over year, heck sometimes day over day. And if you can convince whomever you’re working with to double down and take a chance with you, that’s when things can get really interesting!
Art has the possibility to change the world or at the very least influence it in the right direction. It’s an emotional experience, it can be hard to measure it’s impact but never the less, if you feel called to action we encourage you to go for it!
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