About
Solaka Photography - New York City
“I make the most important thing in the world. The thing that you would take with you, if you had to choose.
I want to make sure that you will always hold that little baby who has since grown so much. I want you to smile with your grandparents forever. I want you to go back to your wedding day, and dance your first dance over and over again.
”
Elizabeth Solaka Photography, New York. esolaka@gmail.com
I’m so glad you’re here, and can’t wait to hear about your photo needs.
Approach
I love connecting with my clients and thrive on creative collaboration. I specialize in wedding, portrait and headshot photography, and also make fine art prints.
Origins:
I’m a New York-based photographer specializing in weddings, headshots, portraits, fashion, editorial, commercial, and fine art photography. My journey began in Lafayette Park, a neighborhood in downtown Detroit. My mom, a ballerina, also ran a catering business and later a blues bar, Soup Kitchen Saloon. I grew up surrounded by the arts—musicians, Broadway casts, and dancers were regulars at our home. I even played piano with Willie Dixon at the bar, while people, including my mom, danced on tables.
My father, born in Iraq, was an architect who later joined the family grocery store business in Lafayette Park, where Motown artists like the Temptations were among his customers. My childhood was full of vibrant, creative influences—concerts, community, and the freedom to explore my neighborhood alone.
I’ve lived in Paris, Berlin, Boston, and Northern California, but New York has always been my home sweet home. I draw from the rich tapestry of NYC to collaborate with clients, creating emotional compelling bodies of work, whether for headshots, weddings, editorial, fashion shoots, or fine art.
I put my whole heart into everything I do. Check out my dozens of 5-star reviews on Wedding Wire (even if you don’t have an upcoming wedding!) to get an idea of my style and customer satisfaction.
2011
Let’s talk about your project or event.
Partial list of clients and exhibitions:
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Lowell, and Fine Arts
Partial list of exhibitions:
• Essential, New York. Multimedia group exhibition, October 2009
• Arthouse Productions. Photographs and video short, Vespa, October 2008
• Madame Claude, Jersey City. Film short, The Other Side of the Bed, October 2008
• Faces of Grace, Grace Church, Jersey City, 2007
• Cathedral Arts Show, Grace Church, Jersey City, 2006
• LITM Gallery, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Jersey City, 2006
• Open Studios, Jersey City, September 2005
• Slow Commotion II: Detroit, December 2003
• Slow Commotion, The University of California, Berkeley, Art Museum Annex, January 2002
• Remember San Francisco Sonntags-Club, Berlin, Germany, July 2000
• Soirée du Soleil, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France, during a residency, multimedia exhibition including performance using electronic sound, video projection, laser light and photography, March 2000
• Brainwash San Francisco, performance and exhibition, October 1999
• On the Page/Off the Page, San Francisco Public Library, slide presentation of photographs through Revelation Gallery, poetry and sound, October 1999
• Leukemia Foundation Art Auction, Revelation Gallery, San Francisco, California, September 1999
• Featured Artist, Artisan Creative, San Francisco, California, October 1999
• The Naked and the Nude, New England School of Photography Gallery, Boston, July 1998
• Women in Photography, Fort Point Artist Community Gallery, Boston, February 1997
• Open Studios, Fort Point Artist Community, Boston, October 1996
• Open Studios Group Show, Fort Point Artist Community Gallery, Boston, October 1996
• Figures of Speech, New England School of Photography Gallery, Boston August 1996
• The Big/Little Show, White Elephant Gallery, Boston, June 1996
Elizabeth Solaka Photography, New York photographer solaka@protonmail.com (to speak on the phone please email first)
Porthole, 2007
