Antoni Benavente

003 PH • Lleida, Spain

AK: Please introduce yourself: What is your name, where are you from, what do you do?

AB: My name is Antoni Benavente, I am a photographer and graphic designer. I was born in Lleida, Spain in 1964, where I currently reside and work.

At the beginning of my artistic career, in the eighties, I used painting and illustration to carry out my projects. My relationship with and interest in photography began a few years later, in the early nineties, when I discovered the work of Robert Frank, Sergio Larrain and Bernard Plossu, photographers of the so-called Beat generation.

The poetry of their works and their creative freedom would later influence my way of looking at and describing the world.

AK: What is your relationship with photography? How did you get into it and what keeps you interested or motivated?

AB: My work is composed mostly of photographic series of my walks through towns, cities and their outskirts. Spaces where moments of a certain ‹magical realism› arise and which I especially like to capture.

I have always used a reflex camera with a 35mm or 50mm lens. This provides me with lightweight equipment and simplicity in taking photographs. Most of my work is done in black and white.

I think grayscale images convey the essence of what I have perceived and wish to communicate.

AK: What are you currently working on, and—if there is—what is your next project or journey?

AB: At the moment I am carrying out different projects that are confined to my nearest geographic surroundings. One such ongoing project is Lleida Diary in which I describe the day to day life of my hometown, a visual diary of poetic moments, some tinged with irony, which arise from the great ‹outdoor stage› that is the street.

AK: Thank you, Antoni!

Editorial Notes:

If you have a project that you would like to present on this platform, please feel free to share it using the submission form.

Photography: Antoni Benavente (2018)
Location: Lleida, Spain

Links: Website, Instagram