This feature is part of CULTURED‘s 2026 Young Photographers list. This year’s list spotlights 14 artists aged 30 or younger from around the globe who are united by a relentless curiosity and an understanding that the photographer’s most important job is identifying what deserves to be seen.
AGE: 28
BASED IN: Brooklyn
Though much of the documentary photographer Elijah Chukwuka Mogoli’s work centers on the specificity of growing up in Brooklyn—as seen in last month’s release Now Is Now New York, a survey of street photography in the city—he’s just as eager to immerse himself in equally distinct communities, camera in hand. Currently, Mogoli has found a powerful subject in Haiti.
What’s the ideal situation for you to make work?
Somewhere super busy—I love making images of gatherings and block parties. I usually get a chance to slow things down; I find a little pocket where I can work.
What questions does your work ask?
Where are we headed as a society? What are our values? What are the things we hold dear, how will they change in the future, and why?
What fears does your work address?
How the community or place I’m photographing is going to change over the years and be affected by gentrification. You see innocent little businesses come into the neighborhood that local people can’t afford and that’s how it usually starts. Then, after a while, faces change. It’s quite sad to see these changes, especially when you grew up in the neighborhood.
Who do you make photographs for?
For the people who are truly invested in seeing the nuances of the human condition, whether locally in Brooklyn or globally in places like Haiti.
What do you want to see more of in photography today? Less of?
I want to see more people making work that’s aligned with them. I want to see people from Chicago making work in Chicago or someone born and raised in LA making projects there. I want to see work made from the perspective of an insider.
Meet more of CULTURED‘s 2026 Young Photographers:
Many Photographers Have Been Nominated for a Pulitzer. This One Was Nominated for a Grammy.
Photographer Arielle Gray Wants Her Subjects to Be Unafraid of Softness
For Queer Photographer Ben Jastremski, ‘Every Image I Make Is the Permission I Was Never Given’
War Still Rages in Ukraine. Photographer Conall Kearney Is There to Document It.
Meet the 30-Year-Old Mongolian Photographer Documenting Changing Borders
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