TCF Ep. 641 - Jasmine Benjamin
The Uniqueness of LA Style, Fishing vs Hunting in Street Photography, and a new monograph by Stephanie Pommez
Seeing the Real Los Angeles
I’ve lived in Los Angeles my whole life, and for just as long, I’ve watched the city I know get flattened into cliché. The version that shows up in movies, ads, and photo books rarely matches the one I grew up with. The LA I know isn’t just palm trees, red carpets, or walking advertisements for plastic surgery. It’s people. It’s neighborhoods. It’s culture stacked on top of culture.
The Los Angeles I grew up in includes storefronts awash in the saturated colors of Latin culture, kids playing baseball in empty lots, and music and dance shaping the rhythm of our lives long before they became trendy or commercialized. That version of the city—the one that’s vibrant, lived-in, and deeply rooted—deserves to be seen.
That’s why Jasmine Benjamin’s work hit me so hard. In City of Angels, she’s not trying to dress up LA as something it’s not—she’s capturing it as it really is. Her photographs reflect a city I recognize. And that’s rare.
Jasmine’s book is a collection of environmental portraits, but more than that, it’s a celebration of LA’s people—our style, our voice, our presence. Though she only had modest experience behind the camera when she began the project, she leaned into her strengths as a stylist, communicator, and creative thinker to produce a body of work that’s both visually striking and emotionally grounded. She comes to photography with a deep background in creative direction, which shows in how she collaborates with her subjects. But it’s her eye, her sensitivity, that elevates the work. She sees people not just for how they present themselves, but for who they are and where they come from.
In our conversation, we discussed how she built trust with her subjects, what it means to photograph your own community, and how this project grew out of a personal need to tell a different kind of LA story—one that reflects both beauty and truth. It’s a powerful reminder of what photography can do when it’s rooted in love and curiosity instead of outsider assumptions.
I hope you enjoy the episode, which is available anywhere you listen to podcasts.
A Smart Take on Street Photography Approaches
While you’re thinking about photographing people and places, I also want to recommend a great video by Gil Kreslavsky that breaks down two distinct approaches to street photography: “fishing” and “hunting.” Clearly and thoughtfully, he explains how each approach shapes not just how we move through a space but also how we compose and frame our photographs.
Too often, people assume that street photography is simply about pointing a camera at strangers walking down the street. But the best street photography isn’t about random snapshots—it’s about timing, light, gesture, and a keen eye for building a compelling frame. It's visual storytelling in real time.
Gil makes a strong case for how the patience and awareness developed through fishing—finding a promising scene and waiting for the right moment—can sharpen your ability to compose more effectively, even when you’re hunting, or actively chasing down a subject or moment. It’s a concise, insightful video that speaks directly to how we build visual discipline in the street. You can check it out here.
A Portrait of Myth and Memory in the Amazon
I recently came across Stephanie Pommez's beautiful and haunting body of work, The Enchanted Ones, and it’s stayed with me ever since. The upcoming book is centered on the Ribeirinhos—river communities deep in the Brazilian Amazon—and, more specifically, on the traditional midwives who serve as both caretakers and storytellers. These women bring life into the world while holding onto the myths and memories that shape their culture.
What struck me immediately was how Stephanie’s photographs walk a fine line between documentary and dream. There’s a softness and intimacy in the images, but also a sense of reverence, almost as if she’s photographing something just barely visible to the rest of us—something spiritual and deeply rooted in the land. The work doesn’t feel extracted or imposed; it feels shared.
Stephanie has a background in international development and art history, and it shows. She moves through these spaces with sensitivity, honoring what she sees rather than trying to explain or translate it too neatly. This is a reminder of how photography can act not just as a record but as a way of listening.
If you're drawn to work that intersects photography with storytelling, tradition, and place, The Enchanted Ones is something to keep an eye on. The book will be released in Europe this April and in the U.S. by August 2025 through Kehrer Verlag.