Breaking Benjamin: The Band That Became My Anthem

Breaking Ben at Prudential

I discovered Breaking Benjamin through my love for Starset.

At some point, though, they stopped being simply another band I loved. Their music became an anthem for the last three years of my life—the kind of songs that somehow fit the hard moments, the good ones and everything in between.

Oddly enough, the main man in my life arrived at almost exactly the same time. He also happened to be a huge Breaking Benjamin fan, which made the connection feel almost too perfect. Somewhere between shared playlists, concert plans and far too many selfies at PNC, a mutual love affair with this band was born.

I have now seen Breaking Benjamin three times, but their September 2025 show at Prudential Center was different: it was my first time photographing them.

Before the show, I was warned that I would be shooting in the dark. They were not exaggerating.

Benjamin Burnley spent much of the set surrounded by shadows, with brief stretches of light offering only a small window to get the shot. It was challenging, unpredictable and exactly the kind of experience that reminds you concert photography is about much more than having the right settings. You watch the stage, anticipate the movement and make the most of every second the light gives you.

There was also something fitting about photographing Breaking Benjamin that way. Their music has always lived somewhere between darkness and survival—heavy without losing its melody, emotional without needing to explain itself.

Standing there with my camera, hearing songs that had carried me through the past few years, was one of those quietly full-circle moments. I was working, concentrating and fighting the lighting, but underneath all of that was the realization that I was finally photographing one of my favorite bands.

Three shows down. The fourth is already on the calendar—and this time, Starset is coming with them.

That feels pretty full circle too.