[9] Benji Reid grew up in Manchester in a family who was actively involved in the arts and in which artistic training was highly valued.

"[10] Reid took an interest in contemporary dance at the age of seven when he started attending shows with his mother at the local Palace Theatre.

[13] In 1990, after his first theatre experience in Alan Lyddiard's production of The Tempest for the Edinburgh Festival,[14] Reid auditioned for Soul II Soul at The Fridge nightclub in Brixton, London, became chief dancer and co-choreographer for some of their numbers,[15] and went on a world tour as part of the collective after the release of their multi-award-winning album Club Classics Vol.

Between 1992 and 1994, Reid worked with director Denise Wong[18] and the Black Mime [19] theatre company on the shows Heart and EDR.

[32] A father of two, he began with a camera he had previously used to document theatre work and employed it to record his younger daughter growing up.

"[42] 2023 marked Reid's return to theatre with a work that combines his photographic practice with his previous career in the performing arts.

Find Your Eyes (Manchester Academy, 12–16 July 2023), a meditation on the creative process, is a live stage performance incorporating "dance, theatre telling, and photography.

He exposes the conflicts of his own life, to distressing depths of despair: addiction, depression, racism, the social care system.

Body Popping Champion (Manchester, England)[65] 2005: NESTA Dreamtime Fellowship[67][68] 2005: Finalist - ART05 Outstanding Achievement in the Arts in the North West (Liverpool)[69] 2020: Mental Health Single Image Winner – Wellcome Trust Photography Prize[2][70]