Ben Queen

Owner, Ben Queen Photography, and Member, West Virginia House of Delegates

By Olivia Miller

Growing up in the small town of Bridgeport, WV, Ben Queen has always been an active member of his community. Being surrounded by small business owners coupled with the support he received in his hometown sparked in him a sense of entrepreneurship and a desire to help his neighbors thrive. This environment allowed one of his first hobbies, photography, to turn into a lifelong passion and successful business venture.

“I knew from my very first lemonade stand at the corner of Brightridge Drive and Hall Street that I wanted to own my own business, and by the time I was 12, with my increasing interest in athletics, I knew I wanted to be a sports photographer,” says Queen.

It was at age 12 that he started his first company, Ben Queen Photography – Home of the $1 Photo. When he wasn’t playing baseball, soccer, football or basketball or running cross country, he was selling photographs of his friends to their parents. Once he began taking photos at local sporting events, he never looked back. At 13, he won a national photography contest and was sent to Super Bowl 43 in Tampa Bay, FL, where he shadowed Sports Illustrated photographers for a week and accompanied them to the game.

By the time Queen was 14, a local newspaper noticed his work and hired him as a freelance photographer. Not yet of driving age, his parents would chauffeur him around town so he could take photos of vehicle accidents, floods, storms and special events. Over the next several years, Queen began attracting clients from all over the state, including West Virginia University (WVU) Athletics, and today, he is one of the most well-known sports photographers in the state and the lead photographer for USA Today Sports.

“I’ve learned that photographs are more than just art,” he says. “Each photo tells a story. Regardless of the event or sport, customers are looking for great photos to help them tell great stories.”

Today, as the owner of Ben Queen Photography, he manages a team of talented freelancers and has the unique opportunity to shoot hundreds of events across the state each year. Whether he is creating images for advertising campaigns or telling the stories of athletes or first responders, he continues to follow dreams etched out in childhood.

Queen also plays another important role in the Mountain State. He has been a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates since 2016. As chairman of the West Virginia Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Committee, he considers his greatest successes the accomplishments he has made in the legislature.

“I believe we are continuing to make West Virginia a better place for entrepreneurs to do business,” he says.

Not only does he serve the people of West Virginia at the capitol, Queen also serves his home state through acts of volunteerism, particularly those that will make the state a more inviting place for young people to live and work. He is a member of the United Way of Harrison County’s Young Emerging Leaders and Connect Bridgeport’s Tourism Development Initiative, a foundation board member and vice president of the Vintage Theatre Company’s Legacy Fund for the Arts and an advisory board member for the West Virginia Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development Initiative, a partnership of WVU and Marshall University. He is also a children’s ministry volunteer and member of Simpson Creek Baptist Church and a summer camp counselor at the West Virginia Baptist Church Camp.

“I love being involved with groups trying to make the arts more accessible to young artists and being able to spend time with young people in church,” he says. “Since high school, I have been helping lead young people to Christ by supplementing our pastors. My dad told me when I ventured into politics that I would be ‘on’ in society all day, every day, and I think that drives me to not only give back financially but also with my time and effort so other young people can see one of their peers as a role model.”