Ep 10: Benjamin Von Wong - Social Artivist Who's Generated 100+Million Views - a podcast by Ling Yah

Benjamin Von Wong is Canadian mining engineer turned social artivist/photographer who designs campaigns around social impact and has succeeded in raising over 100 million views for different causes including plastics, fast fashion and electronic waste. He has a Guinness Book Record, a community of over 500,000 followers and tries to change the world through amplifying positive impact.

Who is Benjamin Von Wong?

Von was born in Canada and his parents are first-generation Chinese Malaysian immigrants. With something of a “chaotic” childhood - he went to 13 different schools in 3 different countries - there was nothing in his background that suggested that he would end up with an artistic career. 

Instead, he became a mining engineer in Nevada. 

Until one day, driven by a breakup, he purchased his first $100 camera from Walmart. A purchase that set him down the crazy, artistic trajectory he is currently on. 

I just woke up one day and realized that I didn't want to be an engineer for the rest of my life.

Becoming a Photographer

The transition into being a full-time creative wasn’t immediate, and some of the things we discussed included:

• Why quitting his engineering job was less a question of courage, and more out of “fear”
• Why photography ended up being the thing that drew him in for the long term;
• How he first got his start in the industry, and the most popular platforms to use at the time;
• How he ran a Kickstarter to fund his Von Wong Does Europe Tour; 
• Some of his projects including the 365 day project; and
• Von’s 3 most impactful work prior to entering the social impact space.

Within 3 years, Von obtained the highly sought after global campaign with Huawei where he had to create an angel with fire wings. 

Entering the Social Impact

After the Huawei campaign, he felt empty. And this signified another pivotal point in his life, only this time it was into the social impact space: 

• Why was it so hard to enter the social impact space?
• Why was the mermaid with 10,000 plastic bottles project so successful?
• How does he measure the impact of art?
• Does he worry about alienating potential clients after entering the social impact space?
• What is his metric of success?

To learn more, visit: www.sothisismywhy.com/10

Further episodes of So This Is My Why

Further podcasts by Ling Yah

Website of Ling Yah