Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, of Anglo-Argentinian parents, Benfield has lived in London since 1980. After joining the international engineering consultancy Travers Morgan as a graphic designer, he rapidly expanded his skills in Photography.

In 1984 he established an in-house Photography Department for the firm which he managed until 1987. He left to open his own studio, specialising in Fashion/Beauty, Advertising, Music and Portrait Photography.

He is very much involved in image manipulation and 3D, and much of his work in this area can be seen in leading London and European fashion/style magazines.In 1998, his picture of Peter Gabriel was featured in the front cover of Apple's European trade magazine.

Swatch also used one of the images for promoting their Peter Gabriel's "Music" watch.

He has won several awards, including the Fuji Comercial Break 2000, the South Bank Photo Show and the Pretty Polly Fashion Awards. He has held joint exhibitions at the ICA, Royal Festival Hall, the Janus Avivson Gallery in Camden Town, London. He was also part of "Vaseline Bodies: a Celebration of Skin", an exhibition at the Mission Gallery in Portobello, sponsored by Vaseline and Elle magazine and curated by Robin Dutt.

In early 2006, he was invited to participate and show at the 4th International Fashion Photography Festival in Cannes, a group exhibition that will also travel to Dubai in January 2007.

In 2007, he was invited to participate again at the 5th International Fashion Photography Festival in Cannes between July and August 2007.