Photographer · London, via Napier NZ
Ben Kepka — Photographer and Founder of Cultured Kiwi
I’m a New Zealand photographer living in London. Most of my work is travel and street photography, shot on film more often than not. I also run Cultured Kiwi, where I review the cameras, film stocks and editing software I use myself.
Selected work
Chernobyl
A day inside the exclusion zone, the Christmas we didn’t go home. Later picked up by Stuff and ePHOTOzine.
Nazaré
36 hours in the town where the world’s biggest waves break — grandmothers in petticoats on one side, sunburnt surfers on the other.
London streets
An afternoon walking one of East London’s arteries. Street photography is still the thing I do to think.
A short version of a long story
I grew up in Napier, New Zealand, and got to London the long way round: a chance meeting at Wellington airport, a couple of years in Switzerland that started on a dairy farm, and a visa fight I lost. The camera came everywhere, and the photos needed somewhere to live. That somewhere became Cultured Kiwi.
These days I shoot photo essays wherever I end up, from the Chernobyl exclusion zone to the big-wave coast at Nazaré, and a lot of London in between.
Cultured Kiwi
I started Cultured Kiwi in 2014 to give my travel photos somewhere to live. It has since grown into an independent publication about 35mm film photography, classic cameras and photo editing software, and I still write every word of it myself. Every review comes from gear I’ve shot with or software I’ve paid for and used properly. Nobody buys a review, and no manufacturer sees one before it goes up.
200+
rolls of 35mm film shot
60+
camera reviews
30+
editing apps tested
Press
“Entering the abandoned city of Pripyat… Kiwi Ben Kepka felt as though he’d landed on the set of an apocalyptical horror movie.”
Stuff (NZ)
“Ben Kepka is a professional photographer who’s originally from New Zealand, but now travels the world in search of great photos.”
ePHOTOzine
“Ben Kepka, a videographer and adventurer from New Zealand, has been posting videos of his travel around Iceland… chronicling the sights and his experiences.”
Iceland Magazine
Get in touch
Prints, projects, or something for Cultured Kiwi — send me a message and I’ll get back to you.