In this series, we shine a light on the uniquely talented creators that have joined the Uptick Network. Introducing the artists, showcasing their work, and interviewing them on the thought process behind their art, their experience as a creator, and their journey into this new and exciting space. This is the first in many series to come.

Ben Simpson (otherwise known as ‘Ben on Bold Street’) is a street photographer hailing from Liverpool, England. The ‘Bold street’ in his alias actually refers to the street he grew up in his hometown on the Mersey. While Liverpool has been a big influence throughout his life, Ben has been taking photographs for over 30 years, with a wide range of subjects in the firing line.

Speaking of firing lines, the first photograph Ben ever took was on a photojournalistic adventure with his father in Afghanistan at the age of thirteen.

Not a bad way to start your foray into the world of photography!

When he’s not staring down the barrel of an AK-47, Ben truly portrays the emotions and daily trials and tribulations of UK life within his photos extremely well, capturing a certain nostalgic and familiar light and mood, only one can recognise fully if you’re from, or have ever visited the UK.

We’re excited to shine the light on Ben and we hope you enjoy this Creator Spotlight as much as we enjoyed putting it together!

I started taking photos with my dad. I guess he was my hero and took me to the most interesting locations. That had a massive effect on my life, also the way I see the world around me. My dyslexia had a massive part as I could load a camera before I could spell my name.

I like all my work or would not carry on. Over the last few years it’s been pandemic portraits, they are powerful and thought-provoking. I am a fan of looking after yourself and the DIY approach to PPE, its part amusement but part serious. In 2020 we in the UK never would have dreamt this would still be an ongoing problem today.

Raw real-life photography of the everyday and fantasy, because life can be too much and fantasy is good for creative purposes and fun escape.

Let’s keep this simple, it’s all photography, I guess. I believe in the romance of old formats, and on social media, today film is making a massive comeback, that’s fantastic. I cut my teeth on 35mm, it teaches you not to waste your shots, it forces you to learn about how photography actually works. Digital is great, it can be better and sharper for things like night shots on the new full-frame cameras. It’s a fast world and it’s getting faster, digital speeds up that process, but I am a big believer in good things come to those who wait.

Honestly, you have to have a passion, and you don’t necessarily need to fix to one topic I see and want to capture that moment. For example, my dad captured me in front of an Apple 2 computer smiling and playing the game Repton. For me, that’s history in a moment. I love making History.

Many photographers and artists. I grew up in Liverpool, I see myself as Scouse not English. To understand this you need to look at Alan Bleasdale’s boys from the black stuff. So to name a few photographers: Richard Billingham, Douglas Gordon, Gillian wearing. Going back a bit, I love Alfred Stieglitz and André Kertész, and I personally know Mark Gerson and his family, and although very old he has produced an amazing wealth of work, if you don’t know his work you should look him up.

It’s been 20 years and it all started with an art project and a love of heroes and escape. So honestly, I was in the right place at a good time, a fan that captured his favourite moments. Look, the money has never been a key driver and it shouldn’t ever be, it’s a passion to capture and reveal. Because I like people, I find it very easy to capture the famous, to the novice, after all they’re all just people and it’s what they do.

Three weeks ago I was working and got glass in my face and a big wrestler on top of me in the ring, and that’s why I love doing what I do, it’s never boring and there’s always a good story or two.

I have been following NFTs for a long time, I think Twitter showed me the light and also Telegram. I joined Uptick due to its connection to Cosmos, I like real-world uses in the crypto space and I think in the future, NFTs will change its name. I see it as a great platform for my multimedia work to come.

A new world and was like the wild west, it’s starting to mature and will have a place for digital art, photography, music and most importantly video, so a new world and new opportunities. What’s not to like? My only worry is plagiarism and things like that, probably held me back in the past from getting into the space.

Love it’s a difficult subject. Can you love a camera or a city? If so I love my Cannon AT1 Silver and Liverpool. There are other loves in my life like my family and loved ones, but I guess there are many forms of love.

A collection of Ben’s favourite photographs

This is part of my photojournalist capture in Afghanistan, I was about 13 years old, this is my dad David. A long story, now we ended up in a war zone, I guess my father liked adventure and being part of history. I have so many images on 35mm, but this was the iconic image of my late father.

Berlin, Germany — near checkpoint Charley, taken on a tripod because I knew that I was looking at history. I love the English… They came, they saw, they did a little shopping right hand side. A reflection of what I did and what families had to put up with with a wall blocking their freedoms.

The whole of a city centre and the river that feeds it: The Mersey. I like it because you can zoom into the original, its high quality and you can view in detail different parts of the city of Liverpool in one image.

This is my street ‘Bold Street’ A fine touch of restaurants and quirky shops. I like this shot because it’s normally full of people, life and all the other things that come with city living. Ironically the only 2 people other than me where two Chinese tourists.

My second trip to the tribal areas of Afghanistan in 2012

The pandemic in England comes to an end legally this week, due to a unpopular government. These are fly on the wall photos and I like that.

Uptick NFT is the world’s first decentralized full-featured mobile NFT app, now with web version, based on the commercial-grade NFT infrastructure of Uptick Network. It safely and conveniently manages users’ digital NFT assets, supports the independent issuance, purchase, transfer, resale, and cross-chain transfer and interoperability of users’ NFT assets, focusing on the pan-entertainment and life service industry, forming a new creative economy for the Web 3.0 era.

Website** | Telegram | Medium | Twitter | **Contact

In this series, we shine a light on the uniquely talented creators that have joined the Uptick Network. Introducing the artists, showcasing their work, and interviewing them on the thought process behind their art, their experience as a creator, and their journey into this new and exciting space. This is the first in many series to come.

Ben Simpson (otherwise known as ‘Ben on Bold Street’) is a street photographer hailing from Liverpool, England. The ‘Bold street’ in his alias actually refers to the street he grew up in his hometown on the Mersey. While Liverpool has been a big influence throughout his life, Ben has been taking photographs for over 30 years, with a wide range of subjects in the firing line.

Speaking of firing lines, the first photograph Ben ever took was on a photojournalistic adventure with his father in Afghanistan at the age of thirteen.

Not a bad way to start your foray into the world of photography!

When he’s not staring down the barrel of an AK-47, Ben truly portrays the emotions and daily trials and tribulations of UK life within his photos extremely well, capturing a certain nostalgic and familiar light and mood, only one can recognise fully if you’re from, or have ever visited the UK.

We’re excited to shine the light on Ben and we hope you enjoy this Creator Spotlight as much as we enjoyed putting it together!

I started taking photos with my dad. I guess he was my hero and took me to the most interesting locations. That had a massive effect on my life, also the way I see the world around me. My dyslexia had a massive part as I could load a camera before I could spell my name.

I like all my work or would not carry on. Over the last few years it’s been pandemic portraits, they are powerful and thought-provoking. I am a fan of looking after yourself and the DIY approach to PPE, its part amusement but part serious. In 2020 we in the UK never would have dreamt this would still be an ongoing problem today.

Raw real-life photography of the everyday and fantasy, because life can be too much and fantasy is good for creative purposes and fun escape.

Let’s keep this simple, it’s all photography, I guess. I believe in the romance of old formats, and on social media, today film is making a massive comeback, that’s fantastic. I cut my teeth on 35mm, it teaches you not to waste your shots, it forces you to learn about how photography actually works. Digital is great, it can be better and sharper for things like night shots on the new full-frame cameras. It’s a fast world and it’s getting faster, digital speeds up that process, but I am a big believer in good things come to those who wait.

Honestly, you have to have a passion, and you don’t necessarily need to fix to one topic I see and want to capture that moment. For example, my dad captured me in front of an Apple 2 computer smiling and playing the game Repton. For me, that’s history in a moment. I love making History.

Many photographers and artists. I grew up in Liverpool, I see myself as Scouse not English. To understand this you need to look at Alan Bleasdale’s boys from the black stuff. So to name a few photographers: Richard Billingham, Douglas Gordon, Gillian wearing. Going back a bit, I love Alfred Stieglitz and André Kertész, and I personally know Mark Gerson and his family, and although very old he has produced an amazing wealth of work, if you don’t know his work you should look him up.

It’s been 20 years and it all started with an art project and a love of heroes and escape. So honestly, I was in the right place at a good time, a fan that captured his favourite moments. Look, the money has never been a key driver and it shouldn’t ever be, it’s a passion to capture and reveal. Because I like people, I find it very easy to capture the famous, to the novice, after all they’re all just people and it’s what they do.

Three weeks ago I was working and got glass in my face and a big wrestler on top of me in the ring, and that’s why I love doing what I do, it’s never boring and there’s always a good story or two.

I have been following NFTs for a long time, I think Twitter showed me the light and also Telegram. I joined Uptick due to its connection to Cosmos, I like real-world uses in the crypto space and I think in the future, NFTs will change its name. I see it as a great platform for my multimedia work to come.

A new world and was like the wild west, it’s starting to mature and will have a place for digital art, photography, music and most importantly video, so a new world and new opportunities. What’s not to like? My only worry is plagiarism and things like that, probably held me back in the past from getting into the space.

Love it’s a difficult subject. Can you love a camera or a city? If so I love my Cannon AT1 Silver and Liverpool. There are other loves in my life like my family and loved ones, but I guess there are many forms of love.

A collection of Ben’s favourite photographs

This is part of my photojournalist capture in Afghanistan, I was about 13 years old, this is my dad David. A long story, now we ended up in a war zone, I guess my father liked adventure and being part of history. I have so many images on 35mm, but this was the iconic image of my late father.

Berlin, Germany — near checkpoint Charley, taken on a tripod because I knew that I was looking at history. I love the English… They came, they saw, they did a little shopping right hand side. A reflection of what I did and what families had to put up with with a wall blocking their freedoms.

The whole of a city centre and the river that feeds it: The Mersey. I like it because you can zoom into the original, its high quality and you can view in detail different parts of the city of Liverpool in one image.

This is my street ‘Bold Street’ A fine touch of restaurants and quirky shops. I like this shot because it’s normally full of people, life and all the other things that come with city living. Ironically the only 2 people other than me where two Chinese tourists.

My second trip to the tribal areas of Afghanistan in 2012

The pandemic in England comes to an end legally this week, due to a unpopular government. These are fly on the wall photos and I like that.

Uptick NFT is the world’s first decentralized full-featured mobile NFT app, now with web version, based on the commercial-grade NFT infrastructure of Uptick Network. It safely and conveniently manages users’ digital NFT assets, supports the independent issuance, purchase, transfer, resale, and cross-chain transfer and interoperability of users’ NFT assets, focusing on the pan-entertainment and life service industry, forming a new creative economy for the Web 3.0 era.

Website** | Telegram | Medium | Twitter | **Contact