Samuli Karala is a Finnish Creative Director with an internationally acclaimed editorial and commercial photographer portfolio. He specialises in portraiture, fashion, beauty, still-life photography, and corporate advertisement. This versatility enables him to operate at the intersection of brand strategy, and creativity in the advent of technological advancements. He seamlessly navigates aspects of the print and digital era, deploying the right blend of innovative strategic storytelling and systems thinking to solve brand and business problems in culturally impactful and commercially effective ways.
Samuli Karala is at the pinnacle of blending artistic and technological ingenuity, creating long-term digital relevance.
Ever since his art studies, Samuli Karala has been fascinated by portraiture. He has become one of the most sought after photographers in the fashion and beauty industry, regularly working with magazines such as Vogue, I-D, The Observer Magazine, Marie Claire, South China Morning Post, InStyle, Muse, Elle and Emirates Woman.
“I make portraits of people, not models. I want to capture the personality beneath their façade. The same applies to still life imagery - I seek the the soul of my object, constantly looking for the story built inside it.” Karala believes everything, everyone and every place has a story.
“Based in London but working frequently in Dubai, Berlin, New York and Los Angeles, he brings international brand stories to life with colour, shadows and light. Whether it’s a portrait of Finland’s president Mr. Sauli Niinistö or R&B star Kelly Rowland or one of the numerous commercial and advertorial clients such as WWF, Bvlgari, Chrono24, Unilever, Audi, Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Fazer, Unibet, Nokia, LIDL, Warner Music, Universal Music, Finnair, Finavia or AXE, they all have one thing in common – all have trusted Karala’s distinctive creative vision
Projects
- TUURE BOELIUS FOR SONY MUSICSocial Media content creation for Tuure Boelius 'Toista Mua' | Sony Music and Spotify Photography and Creative Direction by Samuli Karala | Karala Creative London Editing and animation by Studio Saana Inari Muah by Emma Räsänen Production by Kiira Tiainen and Kauas Creative Studio @helsinki.studio
- GOODBYE REALITY | JANI LEINONEN X VARJOProject Goodbye Reality is a pioneering collaboration between artist Jani Leinonen and VR/XR tech company Varjo. Technologically the aim was to create a new type of VR art exhibition but through new innovations in Varjo Lab it ended up introducing the next generation of NFTs – interactive virtual sculptures created in Metaverse that can be experienced in real physical space. Written and Directed by Jani Leinonen Director of Photography, Color Grading, Post Production by Karala Creative Edit by
- SOFIA BELORF FOR DISCOVERY+Sofia Belorf for Discovery+ Directed by Samuli Karala DOP by Risto Honkasalmi Post production by Saana Inari Lähteenmäki | Studio Saana Inari Creative direction by Samuli Karala & Otto Ikäheimonen Style by Klara Kivilahti Make up by Natasha Smee Hair by Meron Laine Music by Perttumusic Production by Toni Panula from Long Story Short Helsinki Client Discovery Finland
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Projects credited in
Work history
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Creative Director and Visual artistKARALA CREATIVE
London, United KingdomFull Time
FASHION + BEAUTY + PORTRAITS + STILL LIFE | CREATIVE DIRECTION + PHOTOGRAPHY + FILM | CONTENT CREATION + PRODUCTION + CONSULTING | ADVERTISING + EDITORIAL
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PhotographerSamuli Karala
Helsinki, FinlandFreelance
A worldwide working photographer specializing in advertising and editorial work, including portraiture, fashion, beauty, still-life and corporate photography.
Skills
- Photography
- Advanced Retouching
- Creative Arts
- Producer
- Retouch
- Adobe
- Creative Art Direction
- Creative Direction
- Film Directing
Education
Bachelor of Arts (BA) University for the Creative Arts
- Rochester, United Kingdom