How Elesse Valenzuela Found Her Purpose Behind the Camera
Elesse Valenzuela
Elesse Valenzuela didn’t originally see herself behind a camera. Growing up in Long Island, the 21-year-old Dominican and Guatemalan creative imagined a completely different future. At one point, she dreamed of becoming a surgeon, studying medicine and even preparing for a path that could have taken her to Duke University to play D1 basketball.
But when the world slowed down during COVID, Elesse’s ambitions quietly shifted. The stillness created space for something she hadn’t explored before: creativity.
What began with makeup tutorials and beauty content online quickly evolved into something deeper. Elesse found joy in constructing looks, experimenting with lighting, and capturing the details of faces and fashion. Her mother, concerned about her working with photographers she didn’t know, offered a solution that would ultimately change everything. She gifted Elesse her first camera.
That moment launched a career.
Over the past five years, Elesse has grown into a multifaceted photographer whose work spans beauty, fashion, editorial, wedding, and product photography. Her earliest shoots often started at home, working alongside her mother, a hairstylist. Together, they created full beauty packages, with Elesse handling makeup and photography while her mom styled hair.
What began as a family collaboration soon expanded into the wider creative world.
As a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City studying Cosmetic Marketing, Elesse began building a network of models, realtors, beauty artists, and brands. Her work caught attention for its strong contrast, depth, and meticulous editing, a style she credits to her early love of beauty photography and skin retouching.
Her dedication to editing is intense. For Asian New York Fashion Week alone, she edited more than 800 images by hand, enhancing lighting, contrast, and motion blur to create a cinematic effect that has since become part of her signature look.
That work has already led to major opportunities.
Elesse photographed backstage and runway moments for Asian New York Fashion Week, with images later reposted by Glamour Bulgaria, Vous Magazine, and other publications. In August 2025, she directed and photographed a billboard campaign for the show featuring John Wick 3 actor Sergio Delavicci, wearing pieces by designer Alexander King Chen.
A month later, she reached the milestone of photographing for the Lancôme Corporate U.S. team in September 2025. The project was later featured on the FashionWeekOnline blog for the SS25 AsianNYFW season.
For Elesse, photography is only the beginning.
Her long-term goal is to merge her photography background with her FIT cosmetic marketing education to launch her own beauty and skincare brand while helping other companies grow creatively and strategically.
Because to her, the camera isn’t just a tool.
It’s the blueprint for everything that comes next.