Meet Jeffrey Lewis Bennett | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jeffrey Lewis Bennett and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeffrey Lewis, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My original goal with starting a business was to be a branding one stop shop for other small businesses. I wanted to deign their logo, website, and provide great photography. I was not thinking about photographing weddings. Weddings really found me. I covered a few friends’ weddings and things snowballed. Within a year most of my free time away from my day job had turned into wedding & engagement photography.

Like so many people I was into photography as a hobby, long before anyone wanted to pay me to do it. When I started the business I never thought it would eclipse my day job. I was lucky to have people in my life who encouraged me go all-in on my own creative work and leave the day job behind. It’s now been 20 years since I started photographing weddings, 13 years since I quit the day job.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
When I began photographing weddings in 2003 I believed it was my job to deliver what is generally understood as being “wedding photography”. I was 5 years into the business when I met a couple who wanted me to approach their wedding differently. They showed me examples of my own work they thought were special and outside of the norm. They asked me to feel unrestrained creatively at their wedding and be the guy who took those specific images. This encouragement to follow my own creative instincts and make the art I wanted to make was a breakthrough. I’ve spent everyday since developing my own style. I now approach photography through the eye of a designer. I’m often highlighting the surroundings or architecture as much as the subjects. I try to think like a movie director or cinematographer. I believe this purposefully framing can give real moments a more editorial feel. Of course It’s a gamble focusing on your own art vs what might have the broadest market appeal. I feel very lucky to have had so many couples interested in my weird style for their big day.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would start with a few days in Detroit: Coffee at Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters in Detroit’s Capital Park. We would explore all the art deco architecture in downtown. Lunch at Johnny Noodle King before a tour of the DIA. Before leaving midtown we would visit a few of the mid century modern buildings designed by Minoru Yamasaki that reside on Wayne State university’s campus. Dinner at Supino’s Pizza then cap the evening off with cocktails at Weiss Distillery in Clawson. Later in the week we would head north for a day of Kayaking on the Manistee River. Possibly head to the UP for a boat tour of Grand Island and the pictured rocks. Maybe head further north to visit the restaurant Bodega in Marquette, MI.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to give a shout out to Matt Hessler, owner of Iconic Tattoo in Detroit. I met Matt around 2004 when he was running a tattoo shop in Rochester called XS. Matt was a talented Artist, just a few years older than me, with an entrepreneurial drive. Years later Matt purchased and completely renovated a building on Cass ave in Detroit. Which now houses Iconic Tattoo, a beer hall: 8 Degrees Plato, a coffee shop, and the restaurant The Peterburo. Matt was also someone who encouraged me to follow my passion for photography and create my own business.

Website: www.JLBwedding.com

Instagram: JLBwedding

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-bennett-83b967a/