Biography

Gili Benita is a photographer, born and raised in Jerusalem, Israel and currently based in New York City.  In 2015, he started his military service as a cinematographer in the Israeli  Air  Force film unit, making psychological and instructional films. After his  release from the military in 2016, he began his first long-term documentary  project, working with 'Save a Child's Heart'; an Israeli NGO providing medical  aid for children suffering from congenital heart diseases in Tanzania. In 2018,   this work was exhibited at the "Local Testimony" exhibition in the  Eretz Israel Museum In Tel Aviv and won the first prize in the Photographed  story category. That same year he traveled to Japan for a project on the  culture of Japanese loneliness: 'Kodoku,' which was published in iGNANT, The Independent Photographer, Aint Bad, and won the Bronze prize in the Photo Essay catagory in Tokyo International Foto Awards 2019.In 2020 he created the photo series 'Should We Watch Something?', telling the story about his roommates romance during the COVID 19 pandemic in NYC. That year, he also graduated from the International Center of Photography's Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism Program where he was awarded the  Lisette Model Scholarship and the Director's Fellowship.

Gili is also a full member of Diversify Photo