Edouard Elias studied photography at the Écoles de Condé in Nancy, where an early fascination with war photography gave way to a new interest in the documentary work of photographers such as Lewis Hines, Walker Evans, Atget, and Alec Soth. He first reported on conditions in a refugee camp in Turkey, then began photographing in Aleppo, Syria. Back in Paris. His images have appeared in Paris Match, Der Spiegel, and The Sunday Times Magazine.

Elias has collaborated with Parisian engraver and print maker Fanny Boucher on multiple photogravure projects.