Photographer Interviews
A collection of in-depth features with photographers who are defining our collective aesthetic, providing deeper perspective of their process and imagery.
Curated by Maachew Bentley + 35s & 45s
Elizabeth Wirija
is a photographer and director - balancing on a tightrope between fantasy and reality, Eli Wirija’s compelling visual world defines a new present. Through their bold approach to color and ability to make individuals and objects alike stand out in any setting, Eli has built a portfolio that captures eminent creators and progressive fashion with dynamism and clarity.
“The power to explore my emotions and instill a sense of familiarity and wonder. When they say the soul remnants of a person lingers on a photograph, I think it’s true.”
Yavez Anthonio
is a photographer and director, born and raised in Amsterdam-Noord. Yavez Anthonio aims to create contemporary ideas and stories through his interests in music, fashion and the cultures and communities around him. His use of vivid imagery and raw material, stems from his roots, creating a new nostalgia. Through creating connections with people and the world around him, Anthonio pushes boundaries, presenting unique textures to story-telling.
“I think my only motivation is to motivate. To show someone that I just started like this, if I could do it, you could do it too.”
Maya Iman
is a visual artist with a focus on photography, film and art direction. Her practice is guided by her interest in collaboration. She works with her subjects to create safe and intimate spaces in an effort to not only achieve a beautiful image, but also disrupt the historical cycle of image making it often disregards humanity.
“I think if it all just feels something fresh and a new perspective, that's what drives me a lot. I just want to see more people of color. I want to see more queer people. I want to see more women. I want to see new perspectives of life.”
Angella Choe
is a Los Angeles based photographer and creative consultant working across fashion, music and technology. Redefining the lens of traditional fashion and beauty standards, her work amplifies inclusive voices and celebrates self-expression through authentic narratives. Angella Choe studio is a 360 creative and production agency providing clients with photography, creative direction, consulting, casting, styling, video and production services.
“I stay in my own lane and focus on being my only competition. Always strive to do better than myself yesterday or myself last year.”
Justice Mukheli
is a South African Artist, filmmaker, who creates commercials and fine art films. Mukheli is known for creating "intellectually and emotionally dense Art and films" that center on the authentic African experience and with the continued intention to dismantle the negative narrative of Africa and Africans in the World.
“I'm very emotional, and the other thing about me, the emotion I connect with artistically is maybe sadness most of the time. If I want to create a photograph, the first thing I ask myself is what emotion am I trying to evoke or capture?”
Braylen Dion
is a 21 year old filmmaker and photographer whose work aims to renew the representation of Black people in media by personifying intimacy, and softness. Developing upon his interest in photography that began at 11 years old, Dion’s work has recently been featured in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, GQ, Business Week, BET, and BRICK Magazine. His commercial work includes collaborations with Sprite, Nike, Off-White, AFROPUNK, Atlantic Records, LVRN, and Sony Music among others. Braylen is currently based in New York, NY and Atlanta, Georgia.
“You might not be the best that you are right at that time, but that's okay because you're not supposed to be, you're supposed to be better as you go on.”
Kendall Bessent
is an Atlanta, Georgia native, photographer and creative director based in Brooklyn, New York. He uses his work to communicate his perception of the world around him; rather than be past, present, or future. His work explores the complexities of Blackness, in a way that they are shown in their purest forms. He highlights the beauty, strength, love, and happiness that are all a part of the Black experience. He intends for his work to instill self-love and confidence in people who look exactly like him. Bessent describes his work as 'unapologetically Black', and loves to capture and create blatant expressions of Blackness.
“…Make sure that you love doing it because it's not easy. It's not just about having a camera and just being able to take pictures. Anybody could do that, but if you really want to make captivating work, then you need to know how to develop a story behind what you shoot.”
Yulissa Benitez Amaro
is a photographer from Queens, NY. With work based on mood, sometimes giving off a different era of time through the unique use of color, texture styles, and lighting. The subject focus is mainly people and portraiture, often working with musicians and garment designers. Yu-lez’s work hints at surrealism, imitating the nature of the mind’s wonder and curiosity. Contrasting colors and post work creates an extremely cinematic final, deriving influence from experimental films of the 80s and 90s. Beautiful, edgy and one of a kind images is what Yulissa creates.
“Music, moods, imagination. They all tie together for me. I'll hear something and have some sort of thought or feeling that will align with some type of photograph…”
Lawrence Agyei
is a Ghanaian photographer with footprints in Italy, living on Chicago's south side. Through Agyei's use of portraiture, the hidden languages held deep within the body of his subjects find comfort revealing themselves through Agyei's lens. The vibrancy, boldness, the coolness, and subtle textures of his portraits unveiled through Agyei's use of film ensures that their voices will never go unnoticed nor will they be forgotten.
“My thing is just always capture people in their true self. That's it.”
Jessica Foley
is a Thai-American photographer from Los Angeles, currently based in Brooklyn. A traveler at heart, her worldly wanderings are captured in images marked by a sense of palpable intimacy. Her distinctive eye has given her work with top clients such as AirBnB, New Balance, and Nike.
“I love to capture those moments that make you feel lucky to be at that place at that time.”
Guarionex Rodriguez Jr.
is an artist living in Brooklyn, NY. Through the years, he and his work have become a staple of the Brooklyn community imagery, shooting mostly 120mm and 35mm to capture some of the best humans in the night life scene. Guarionex’s work is intentional, consistent, emotional and diverse - as is he and his amazing taste of music.
“We want people to really understand that there is no such thing as competition, that there's an abundance of resources and actually more to get from people that resource and whoever needs help should get the help. And to always pay it forward.”
Liam Woods
is a non binary analogue photographer based between North Carolina and California. Their work is characterized by their whimsical storytelling embraced by the arms of vulnerability and inclusivity. Their perspective on staying true to the essence of their subjects set a warm and inviting tone for their work.
“I wanted to change the narrative utilizing my art to create that safe space for myself and others. Art can be healing and life changing when you move with intention.”
Poochie Collins
is a Richmond, Virginia bred, Brooklyn-based visionary, writing love letters with light. By creating these visual time capsules, she illustrates her journey through reflections of her many subjects.
“Creating a visual time capsule of my life moves me to shoot.”
Olivia Lifungula
is a Congo born, Belgium raised photographer and filmmaker now living in London. Her work explores the themes of intimacy, beauty and the construction of black femininity in the arts and media.
“I would like my work to make them feel something, ideally something positive. I want people to get a sense of my heritage, the colours that resonate with me, the movies I like and perhaps how sensitive I am.”
Cheril Sanchez
is a Dominican Bronx-raised photographer and director. Inspired by women and driven by developing personal connections with her subjects, her signature style is characterized by gentle and vibrant touches coupled with a timeless energy.
“I want others to know that beauty isn’t monolithic, that instead it is an energy and presence you carry within.”
Simrah Farrukh
is an American-Pakistani photographer exploring dreams, realities and utopias primarily of brown women.
“Old school mindsets and patriarchal traditions have confined us into a box and put a lot of pressure on us. My work is an escape from that and a safe space for brown women to be and feel whoever and whatever they want.”
Demi Vera
is a multidisciplinary artist whose work hones in on intimate documentation, safe spaces, and stories exploring individuals growth and vulnerability. Demi began her artistic career in darkroom photography and has since explored multimedia adaptations of her work. Demi has spent the past few years compiling her poetry, illustrations, and film photography and is working on her first book of collected work.
“..what matters is I got soul, and a story. The poetry in me is my Taino ancestors performing dance pieces, communicating through our universal language of love.”
Avion Pearce
is an interdisciplinary artist working primarily with the photographic image, based in Brooklyn, New York. A world of imagined historical anecdotes and folklore is the world in which Avion places her work. Staging narrative scenes, using created environments, costumes and props, She attempts to fill in blanks left in western pictorial histories and texts.
“I hope people feel transported, encouraged to enter the images and also dream with me.”
Mahaneela
is a multidisciplinary artist from London with roots in Ghana, India and Jamaica. Her work explores the themes of diasporic history, music and culture, with a focus on the black experience and emphasis on depicting black and brown people in modes of joy and happiness.
“I think impact is a really big part of my creative thinking. I'm always thinking about legacy impacts, how this can exist outside of just this thing. How can we build a world?”
Wayn O’Hara Reid
is a Jamaican-American artist based in south side Jamaica, Queens. His work is rooted in the black experience across diasporas, operating in the realm of memory and re-memory, finding the beauty in the “in beteen” moments. Working largely through the mediums of film and photography, his ambition to tell black stories is driven by his innate curiosity and will to connect with others learning more about himself and the world around him.
“I want to remember that… I want to look back at the photo, maybe I didn't catch it at a specific moment, but if I see the photo, I’ll remember the day and I’ll remember the feeling..”
Dylan Warmack
is a curator, photographer and a multimedia artist living in NYC. Warmack is most known for his large scale photography installations that feature varying artists from across the globe. His work covers luxury beauty campaigns, fashion editorials and personal portraits. His work is a reflection of his obsessions: art, travel, and ebay deep-dives.
“…we become so desensitized and everything tends to feel the same when indeed most images are very different and some deserve time to look further…”
Anthony Peterson
is better known as AP The Angel, his alias online and off. AP is a photographer based in New York City, and doesn’t like to constrict himself to one style of photography, he believes in diving deep into the craft and exploring as much as possible, shooting what FEELS right. Peterson’s personal work focuses on a mix between portraiture, street, landscape, and double exposure.
“What moves me in photography are the real moments that happen naturally in the grand scheme of things...”
Pierre
photographer, filmmaker, cultural documentarian, and multimedia consultant. As a native of Queens, New York, his forte lies in capturing street scenes, cultural movements, and intimate celebrity moments and is often deemed one of the premier contemporary chroniclers of New York City life.“My environment is probably my number one source of inspiration.
“I’m very observant so being able to be stimulated by the things around me is important.”
Marcus Lloyd
professionally shoots as a freelance travel, food, interiors photographer based in New York City. His personal work focuses around architecture and street documentary. Lloyd has built an extensive list of location shoots over his years, sharing his picture perfect journeys online in real time.
“Let’s encourage more people to pick up film, is how I see it.”
Dorrell Bradford
is an American photographer, born and raised in South Phoenix, Arizona. He documents places and spaces in which you wouldn’t expect interesting aspects to arise, finding unique viewpoints and quiet moments of pause and wonder. Often his work of city vs landscape displays hard juxtaposition when viewed in tandem, but with a closer study it’s clear something seems the same across his shots. Dorrell brings the scene to life.
“The process of discovering my images, it’s become meditative, exciting, and connects me to my childhood of exploring.”
Joonbug
lives as a multidisciplinary visual creative, based in Oakland, California. He has carefully cultivated his skills for illustration and design; a quirky wit and hand-styled approach gives his work vibrant soul and character. The images are poetic, with a strong sense of personal connection-feeling like a memory fragment of his daily life rather than photography.
“Analog still gives me the ‘Wooh!’ moment though, nothing like a buttery shot with the soul oozing off a darkroom print.”
Fela Raymond
is a photographer and creative director originally form Nigeria, now based in Texas. From Africa to Australia, and back to the States, he has taken film with him everywhere, focusing on the traditional photographic style that is symbolic of the meticulous and steady development of the humanity he captures.
“I just want to share my perspective and inspire others to share theirs too. When people see my work I want it to take them to nostalgic moments and memories of their own personal life.”
UV Lucas
is a Philadelphia based photographer, with styles and subject ranging nightlife, street, fashion editorial, but mostly portraiture. In 2017, after 15 years of djing, Lucas decided it was time to teach herself photography from scratch, jumping straight into film photography to begin.
“All my photos come from the heart or visions I’ve had or some accidents or just spur of moments things..”