Ben Pierce was raised in the heart of Cajun country, Lafayette, Louisiana. He is a graduate of the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University, and has recently returned to Lafayette where he lives with his wife and two children.

A student of art and design, but never one of photography, it wasn't until Ben left Louisiana following college that his passion for landscape photography was born. Living in Asheville, North Carolina and while working for a landscape architecture and land planning firm, Ben thought it was important to take pictures of the surrounding Southern Appalachian mountains to share with his family and friends back in Louisiana. One day, on a remote mountain trail in search of a hidden waterfall, Ben realized that just taking "snapshots" of the mountain scenery wasn't enough to show the beauty and to tell the whole story of his experiences exploring the mountainsides. From that day forward he began to strive to capture the essence of the places that he visited and to pay more attention to the natural treasures that surround us.

Upon returning to Louisiana, Ben immediately thought about the importance of the Louisiana cypress swamp landscape as his next photographic subject. He believed that the swamps of Louisiana, though iconic, have not been viewed in the same positive way that the mountain and coastal landscapes of the country have. He aspired to capture beautiful images of the swamps in order to shift the belief that swamps are unattractive and uninviting environments. By capturing these picturesque images, Ben hopes that the perception of the swamp can be seen for what it truly is--a stunning, diverse, and valuable ecosystem--and that by changing this perception ultimately more people will rally to preserve and protect these amazing wildernesses.

You can now find Ben working as the executive director of the non-profit organization Louisiana Swamp Base, Inc., and as a private swamp photography guide with McGee’s Swamp Tours in Henderson, LA.