Elevated Golf Game

The pivot point of my photography is often between awkwardness and grace. Capturing a portrait of someone using an elegant sport like golf for recovery was an exciting prospect.

Benjamin Hall, an on-air journalist, was severely injured when his vehicle was bombed during the Russia-Ukraine conflict. His colleagues were killed in the attack.

Hall underwent multiple surgeries and received prosthetic legs. As part of his recovery, he played a lot of golf, which helped him physically and mentally. We did our shoot two years after the attack.

Fox News, Hall's employer, provided an outdoor patio overlooking the Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan. Golf Digest’s Photo Editor Stephen Denton and I decided to photograph him putting with midtown skyscrapers as a backdrop.

Working with Benjamin Hall required sensitivity, recognizing his real and ongoing struggle. The parameters of the shoot allowed time for him to take breaks, to sit, with an awareness of his physicality at all times. However, he graciously declined every offer to rest.

As a photo subject, Ben Hall is a hole-in-one.