ELEGANCE BRATTON, born on this day, is an American filmmaker and photographer. He began his career in the 2010s, writing, directing, and producing a variety of projects including the short film Walk for Me, the reality television series My House, and the documentary film Pier Kids.

Elegance was born in Jersey City, New Jersey and raised in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. At age 16, he was kicked out of home for being gay and spent 10 years being homeless before joining the Marines. He served as a combat camera production specialist in Camp H.M. Smith in Hawaii, shooting videos and taking photographs. He graduated from Columbia University with a degree in African American Studies, and received his MFA from New York University Tisch School of the Arts for directing and writing.

Bratton has worked as a director, writer, producer, and photographer since the early 2010s. His photographic compilation Bound by Night, shortlisted for the Kassel 2014 photo-book award.

In 2016, he directed a short film, Walk for Me, as an assignment in his second year in the Graduate Film program at Tisch. The film is about trans motherhood in ballroom culture. Walk for Me was released on the Criterion Channel.

He later directed the documentary film, Pier Kids, about three LGBTQ homeless youths in New York City, was released in 2019. The film has been featured in media, such as the VICE, ABC News, The Huffington Post, OUT Magazine, and GLAAD.

His debut feature film, The Inspection, was released in 2022 with a cast that includes Jeremy Pope, Gabrielle Union, Bokeem Woodbine and Raúl Castillo. Bratton also wrote the screenplay. The film had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022.

In 2022, his feature film directorial debut, The Inspection, premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.