We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Elijah Benfante. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Elijah below.

Elijah , appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I’ve always been a creative at heart, but never knew which avenue I wanted to take. I love music and anything that is visually pleasing to my artistic eyes, but ultimately decided on photography- for now.

I’ve always had an eye (or a knack, rather) for photography. Having a Pinterest filled with albums of aesthetics that I find interesting and would love to delve more into, I decided to pick up a camera for the first time in 2022.

I worked amongst a small group of youth in a BIPOC organization arts program. Being the person that I am, I was shy to really talk to anyone and ask my instructor for tips and guidance. All I knew then, was that I had projects due and very little time to execute my visions. My time at the organization was short due to me moving around and ultimately leaving the state, I called home. The next time that I would pick up a camera or do an photography, would be two years later.

2024, was the year for me to explore and travel more often. I moved to LA and was finding my bearings and just so happened to be in the company of a fellow creative that I’ve known for a few years now. They forced me to tag along on their model shoot in downtown LA, with another photographer they had met online. It was a cute setting and the shoot was nice, but of course after the photographer left, my fellow creative (entanglement, honestly) wanted more photos. They forced me to use their phone to snap a couple more pics of them, and called it a day. That sparked something in me to get back into photography, but what was holding me back was relearning how to work a camera, trust my creative visions, and taking the time to really put in effort for my work. It had been such a long time, I was afraid I had lost my touch.

Fast forward to this year, this same entanglement of mine, had texted me to be apart of their shoot as a “prop” (per se). The day came, and of course there was another photographer taking their photos. I was nervous about being in the shoot until the photographer offered up their second camera for me to take pictures on. I was reluctant and was doubting my abilities, but eventually agreed. We took photos for at least 2 hours and by the time the shoot ended, I was back in the full swing of things.

Basically, I doubted myself for years and never really took myself seriously. I was afraid of risks and starting over, and giving myself the chance to relearn things I was already taught. I was standing in my own way and what good does that do for me?

Persistence and motivation were skills that I needed to hone on a personal level, as well as trusting myself.

Elijah , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a creative that is currently honing my skills in photography. I work with BIPOC creatives who need their visions to come to life and when I’m not working with other creatives, my muse (entanglement) keeps me busy with their creative endeavors, as they are an advocate for youth experiencing homelessness and struggling with substance abuse who infuses their art (fashion, modeling, and photography) into bodies of work that raise awareness for their cause.

I’m more of the middle man. I execute what you need me to do and give you the results you wish for.

It’s a passion that I have and I’m glad that I have someone who motivates me and keeps me busy in my own craft cause, it allows me to keep honing my skills. My most recent project (on my Instagram) is something I’m really proud of. I produced something that I didn’t even know I was capable of doing, and the initial surprise of that makes it very special.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I met my business partner (entanglement/muse) in a homeless shelter. We were both going through similar circumstances in regards to our families. We’ve moved from one state to the next, in pursuit of each other (that does not mean we moved just to move; we moved either because of housing or for work) and kind of fell in love. It was unexpected and definitely not planned on, but we were just interested in each other, and things happened that somehow always aligned for us to keep meeting each other. It’s even better because our creative interests mesh together. Between modeling and fashion, and photography, our partnership was destined to be.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is the finished product. I have such a sense of being proud of myself for completing a project and watching it come to life. I especially love being a part of the journey that is created when being in these projects, as well.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/elijah__b03