A new book celebrates the unique street style of Los Angeles

I love cities that have spirit, their own recognizable vibe and identity, a way of breathing that sets them apart. That unique energy, like an invisible membrane, wraps around every part of urban life, its culture, lifestyle, spatial aesthetics and the personal styles of the people who work and live there. Berlin is open minded yet a little dark, Copenhagen is playful, eclectic and colorful, and Paris is chic and refined. Each has its own charm and expresses it in a distinctive way.

Los Angeles, a city of about eighteen million people, is a place where style, music and art blend into a dynamic and vibrant whole, and its energy is woven from a mix of glamour, rawness and freedom. It is this very fusion of energies that American photographer and costume designer Jasmine Benjamin set out to capture through her lens. She embodies both the ease of Northern California where she grew up and the cosmopolitan rhythm of Hollywood where she now lives. She brought together one hundred and twenty portraits of bold and expressive creatives who shape the lively scene of the City of Angels in the book City of Angels: A Book about L.A. Style, published this spring by Damiani Books.

Through Jasmine Benjamin’s photographs, City of Angels explores the intersection of identity, culture and personal style that makes Los Angeles special, from famous faces to local residents, offering an intimate and authentic look at the spirit of this southern California megalopolis. Benjamin, who has worked as a stylist, costume designer and creative director with brands such as Nike, Apple Music and Google and with musicians like Anderson .Paak, Donald Glover and Chaka Khan, is the sole author of all the photographs in the book. The foreword was written by Vogue UK editor Chioma Nnadi, and the book gains an additional artistic layer through an illustrated map of Los Angeles created by renowned graffiti artist Isaac Escoto, also known as Sickid.

City of Angels is both a tribute and a kind of exploration of street style and the vibrant culture of Los Angeles. Through photographs of celebrities, prominent creatives and local residents, the book portrays and celebrates the diversity and richness of styles that dominate the streets, reflecting the authentic spirit and unique fashion of the city. Approximately 80 percent of the people featured in the book were born in Los Angeles or come from the wider California region, which gives the book an intimate, homegrown perspective and highlights the authenticity of the project itself.

This work brings together beauty and boldness, glamour and rawness, as stated in the book’s description, once again proving that the spirit and energy of a city with all its differences are shaped above all by its people.

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