Atlanta Made Us Famous is an ongoing project that highlights the women that play an important role in the Atlanta hip-hop scene. During her first visit to Atlanta in 2018, Benjida interned at a photography studio right across the street from legendary strip club Magic City, which has been a crucial launch pad for numerous rappers’ careers. Realising that the female dancers in the club played a vital part in this scene, Benjida felt a desire to document their lives and experiences. She befriended several of them, documenting motherhood, and work and trying to understand the narratives and agency around their bodies. Her bold, tender portraits of dancers speak to an alternative, intimate, female-centred perspective – as mothers or mothers-to-be, for example. Through creating this series, Benjida hopes to show that their images “hold power and importance beyond hip-hop and its surrounding culture.’’

click to view the complete set of images in the archive