Alexander Ben

Projects and Stories — Index

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Collected here are the things I’ve been driven, determined, and above all fortunate to have had the resources to see many parts of the world, learn from its people, and in a short 3 year photography career, with zero pretensions until January of 2026 of anything close to photojournalism, I look back and realize that was exactly what I had been doing, only I never pulled it together in a cohesiver or important way. These are the stories I present as examples of that work, with the only serious project being Memoria P’urépecha; by far the most challenging, dangerous, soliitary, and violently ostracizing at times project I’ve taken on to date. Nov. 01 I release a first version of the enormous archive for which I have found no project even close to its scope, seriousness, or size. Many of the other projects pulled from my library have serious weight to then using contacts I’ve maintained, however I won’t lie and say that in the moment I was treating the work as a true photojounalistic venture. Many of them I plan to return to, but one must draw limits or these projects never come to life. Please enjoy and browse as you please, comments and critiques are encouraged.

©Alexander Benedict Sweet
All Rights Reserved

No AI was, is, or ever will be used in the production of my creative work.

Sept. 2023—2026

Works during a nascent 3 year photography career:

Memoria P’urépecha

• Michoacán, México
• Status: In Progress

A robust documentary style archive documenting the near completely unknown Empire, second in size and the only grou to hae defeated the Aztec Empire on every ocsassión their territory was threatened. This project represents a certain Magnum Opus and growing archive approacing 18 months of independent work without pay, institutional help, or protection in Level 4 - Do Not Travel Michoacán for it’s cartel activities, of which I have narrowly avoided many. The project is set to launch in 3 phases, Nov.1 01 is th public site and what I refer to as the analog archive, where images are avaible for licensing through direct contact only. What follows are the. printed versions of the same fundamental archival base, differing only in price, specificity of focus, and whether the narrative focus takes precedence or the photgraphy reigns supreme. Finally, before leaving to extend the project in Guatemala and Bolivia in April, the fully coded, professional archive will be ready to launch. It remains to be seen how best to do so with tens of thousands of images and a poignant lack of interest in paying 50 dollars a month for sub-par white label services. Likely I will be dusting off the programming cortex and going it entirely myself using plugins for search, easy javascript for tags, and clean categories that align its style and eloquence with the rest of the project. Depending on the results during the first year publicizing the project and filling gaps where necessary, this, and its extension to the living cultures of Mesoamerican and perhaps even South American history, thousands of years of existence, has potential to extend enormously and show how the empire of the moment works to get the resources it wants. For now, it is an all consuming, independent, dangerous, unsupported project I took on for personal reaasons long before seeing the value both historically and potential monetization down the line.

View a Sample of Memoria P’urépecha here before its official launch in its first phase ⇢

Vietnam’s Peculiar Fishing Culture

• Photos taken in Da Nang, Vietnam
• Mini-feature

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Faith in Nepal, Daily Rituals and the enormity of Shivaratri

• Photos taken in Bhandipur, Nepal
• Mini-feature

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