Benjamin C Tankersley

Work samples

Goodbye Bridge GatheringC_0.jpg

Neighbors get together for an informal celebration of the Harford Road Bridge being completed after 5 years of construction on September 17, 2022 in Baltimore Maryland
Katie Wetzel
Anthony Boone
Bill and Pikachu

About Benjamin

Benjamin C Tankersley is a fine art and commercial/editorial photographer. He earned his BFA in Photography from the Corcoran School of Art in 1999 where he is currently an adjunct professor.

Benjamin is a regular contributor to The Washington Post and contributes to other local and national publications. Benjamin also… more

View Benjamin's Resume

Tracing Arcadia

These photographs are about long dog walks, finding solace in a nearby oasis of nature and how a bridge closure and the coronavirus pandemic affected the migratory patterns of both wildlife and human traffic in and around a stream valley park in Baltimore.

In late 2018, the 108-year-old Harford Road bridge that crosses over Herring Run in northeastern Baltimore City closed to be torn down and replaced. Through road closures around the construction project, borderlands that were now free of cars blended with the natural riparian zone creating an intermundium realm where civilization meets the wild. Deer and fox roamed across once busy intersections as well as an influx of neighbors who were looking to escape quarantine or forge shortcuts through the woods on either side of the bridge they could no longer walk across.

Harford Road has been a path running northeast from the city for 300 years and Herring Run flows under the bridge southwest to the Back River and into the Chesapeake Bay. This area has supported wildlife for an immeasurable time and once was hunting grounds for the Piscataway and Susquehannock peoples before European settlement in the late 1600’s.

I chose to live in this neighborhood to be near these woods to have a place for long dog walks and to find solitude in nature with nearby city conveniences. I found myself drawn to explore photographically the changes I witnessed to this unique geographic area that is both historically important and sustaining to the human and wildlife neighbors who share it.

Swollen Run

A swollen Herring Run seen from the Harford Road Bridge after a rainstorm on July 16, 2022 in Baltimroe Maryland.
Winter Arbor

A natural arch overlooking Herring run in Hall Springs on January 7, 2022 in Baltimore Maryland
Red Crane # 2

Big crane to put in Harford Rd bridge in Baltimore Maryland on August 6, 2020.
Fall Forest

Morning light peeking through changing leaves in Herring Run on November 7, 2021 in Baltimore Maryland
Hedge Apples and Stones

Stones and hedge apples in the woods where Lake Montebello drains to Herring Run on December 11, 2022 in Baltimore Maryland. Hedge apples or Osage Oranges native to the southeastern US were used by early american settlers to create thick hedges or fences to control livestock. Native Americans used their wood to make clubs and bows.
Water Access

A hose delivers water to the Harford Road Bridge counstruction site tapped from a Fire Hydrant on Harford Road in Heinz Park on August 29, 2020 in Baltimore Maryland
Hunt Near Eutaw Chapel

Louie stands alert at th Eutaw Chapel ruins in Hall Springs on December 10, 2022 in Baltimore Maryland
Path Closed

Construction gates in Hall Springs on November 28, 2022 in Baltimore Maryland.
Hill Steps

A dug out hill in Herring Run Park on June 4, 2020 in Baltimore Maryland. A dirt bike obstacle course is layed out at the bottom of the hill. There were many signs of more people visiting the park after the onset of shelter-in-place early in the coronavirus pandemic.
Goodbye Bridge Gathering

Neighbors get together for an informal celebration of the Harford Road Bridge being completed after 5 years of construction on September 17, 2022 in Baltimore Maryland

Breezewood

Breezewood is an exploration of small-town life in a town where seemingly no one lives. People come from elsewhere to open shop for those who are “just passing through.” Gas stations and restaurants are surrounded by overly ambitious sprawling parking lots. Rusting restaurant equipment sits outside of shuttered independent cafes alongside bustling corporate giants. This ‘Town of Motels’ offers hundreds of rooms for those headed somewhere else.
On road trips I’ve always looked forward to passing through Breezewood as the town either represented a gateway to an adventure far from home or as a landmark signifying that I’m almost back. I set out to photograph a portrait of Breezewood to further explore a town that left an emotional impression on me but was designed to appeal to no more than our basic needs of fuel and a place place to rest. Through the process I discovered that Breezewood represents in a microcosm the struggles of the American economy framed by the thrills and pitfalls of the Great American Road Trip.

Empty Pool, Empty Motel
Anthony Boone
Family House
Phone Call
The Maxons
Lucy
Cynthia and Abrahim Duhul
Kacey on Break
Paul S Brown
Back of Breezewood Motel

50 Grinds Around the Sun

The generation of skateboarders I looked up to while growing up are now mostly over 50 years old. Despite their age, these founding members of a marginalized youth culture are defying ideas of age appropriate behavior and continue to follow their youthful passion for skateboarding.
I am documenting these skateboarders as they are now as well as details of their individual experiences as the silverbacks of their tribe and that there is still a sizable population of first-generation skateboarders found riding their boards in parks, streets and in empty backyard pools.
These skaters continue to get on their board and push for the fun of it despite having the added responsibilities of adulthood such as families and careers. I hope that these images encourage the viewer to stop and reflect on the beauty, meditative qualities and importance of these individuals keeping up with a “fad” that has lasted through the majority of their life.

Sam Shallow Carve
Sam Boo
Mr Element
Patti Hurst
Jeff Swayne at GSL
Marc Emond at Lansdowne
Marc Emond
Bill and Pikachu
Bill Ranglin
Mike Ohm

2nd Amendment Landscapes

2nd Amendment Landscapes are an exploration of how the right to bear arms is reflected on the American landscape.
Americans view guns in a wide spectrum of ways across the country. From enthusiasts who use guns for sport, see gun ownership as a right passed down to us by our forefathers or as a means of self-defense to Americans working to strengthen gun restrictions, get guns off the street, reduce gun related crimes and those directly affected by gun violence. Statistics say 48% of Americans grew up in a household with guns, 72% have fired a gun and 44% know someone who has been shot by a gun. Gun culture and the effects of guns are seen across the America in manifestations both physically and psychologically.
By documenting visible evidence as well as how Americans emotionally connect their beliefs about the 2nd Amendment with the landscape I am exploring how gun culture and the effects of gun ownership in America are imprinted across the landscape.

340 Defence
Omari Sacred 7
PG County Trap and Skeet Landscape 1
After the Hunt
East Oliver Street, Baltimore
Baltimore March for Our Lives Rally 2018
PG County Trap and Skeet Landscape 2
Markham Virginia
James Peterkin at his Joey Boyd Memorial
Malik Hall Memorial

Opioid Crisis in Hagerstown Maryland

Originally commissioned for Baltimore Magazine, Opioid Crisis in Hagerstown Maryland explores the effects of opioid addiction on a small post-industrial town in western Maryland. By exploring streetscapes and community members affected by the opioid crisis, this project explores the toll opioids are taking on Hagerstown and how it can be seen as a microcosm of Baltimore Maryland, a small town with big city problems.