Jasper Soloff | Color, Confidence, and Creating at Full Volume

From shooting for Vogue, GQ, Paper, and Dazed to directing campaigns for Fenty Beauty, Maybelline, and Amazon Fashion, Jasper Soloff has carved out a visual language that feels instantly recognizable: kinetic, saturated, and emotionally charged. He’s photographed artists like Billie Eilish and Billy Porter, and now he’s stepping into longform storytelling with a documentary following Broadway star Sam Pauly during her run in The Great Gatsby.

We sat down with Soloff to talk about scale, self-trust, and why joy is at the center of everything he makes.

Q: Your images feel loud in the best way — bold color, big emotion, real movement. What are you chasing when you’re behind the camera?

Jasper Soloff: Energy. I’m always chasing that split second when someone forgets they’re being watched. That’s when the image becomes honest. I use color almost like a volume knob — turning it up to heighten the feeling. I want the viewer to feel something immediately, not just admire something pretty.

Q: Before photography, you were training seriously as a ballet dancer. Does that discipline still show up in your process?

Jasper Soloff: Completely. Ballet trained me to obsess over detail — the angle of a hand, the tension in a shoulder, the space between bodies. On set, I’m hyper-aware of posture and line. Even chaos is choreographed in a way. But I’ve also learned to loosen up. Dance was about perfection. Photography, for me, is about presence.

Q: You’ve photographed global stars and major campaigns. What did it take internally to step into rooms at that level?

Jasper Soloff: Honestly? Confidence that I had to build the hard way. Early in my career, I was underestimated a lot. I’m young, I’m queer — people didn’t always immediately see me as “the director.” At some point I realized no one was going to hand me authority. You claim it. Once I stopped shrinking myself, the work leveled up too.

Q: You talk a lot about queer joy. How does that translate visually?

Jasper Soloff: For me, queer joy is softness and power existing at the same time. It’s intimacy without apology. I’m drawn to people who exist loudly — drag artists, musicians, performers — because there’s bravery in that visibility. I want my sets to feel like safe little ecosystems where people can show up fully. When someone feels seen, it changes the image completely.

Q: What did seeing your work displayed publicly — like in Times Square — mean to you?

Jasper Soloff: It felt surreal. I remember being younger and staring up at those screens thinking they were untouchable. Seeing my work there wasn’t just a career milestone — it felt personal. Like proof that the kid who felt different could grow up and put that difference on a massive stage.

Q: You’re moving into film and documentary work now. What’s exciting about that shift?

Jasper Soloff: Still images capture a moment. Film captures evolution. Following Sam Pauly through her Broadway journey opened something up in me. I loved building narrative — watching vulnerability unfold over time. I’m excited by projects that combine music, fashion, and storytelling. Eventually, I’d love to direct something theatrical and emotionally explosive. Something that feels like a concert and a confession at the same time.

Q: What does a successful shoot feel like to you?

Jasper Soloff: It feels collaborative. It feels unexpected. Some of my favorite images happened when something went “wrong” — lighting shifting, someone moving off mark, laughter breaking out. I plan obsessively so I can afford to be spontaneous. That tension between control and freedom is where the magic is.

Q: If you stripped away the credits and the clients, what is the core of what you’re trying to say with your work?

Jasper Soloff: That there’s power in being fully yourself. That color is emotional. That movement is healing. And that joy — especially queer joy — isn’t frivolous. It’s revolutionary.

Written by Carter Kenney.