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Thais Varela
Thais Varela is a Spanish-based photographer, creative director, and mentor whose work inhabits the delicate space between the dreamlike and the tangible. Her imagery is defined by a distinctive visual language built through saturated color palettes, form, and light, transforming everyday moments into poetic emotion.
Contemplation is the tool I’m most interested in developing in photography: looking from the inside out.
Varela’s practice focuses on the beauty of the ordinary — a flower, a gesture, an object — and explores how composition and color grading can elevate these familiar elements into powerful emotional experiences. Her work often evokes feelings of intimacy, nostalgia, and quiet contemplation, revealing the extraordinary within the mundane. Working both in studio and on location, she embraces pared-back processes and a deep attention to detail, always seeking images that are felt before they are explained. Beyond her commissioned work for clients such as Warner Music, IKEA, Spotify, Huawei, and Martini, Varela sustains a rich personal practice that serves as a space for creative freedom and expansion. Her self-initiated series, including La Zona del Silencio (set in Chihuahua, Mexico), reflects her fascination with landscapes, memory, and the unseen emotional resonance of spaces.
An autodidact, Varela began pursuing photography full-time in her early thirties, developing her vision through experimentation, online learning, and constant practice. She has since become known not only for her photographic voice but also for her role as a mentor, guiding other artists in finding their own creative direction and emotional connection to their work. Currently based in the Basque Country, Spain, Thais continues to collaborate with international brands, magazines, and artists, balancing commercial commissions with introspective personal projects. Her visual world is one of curiosity, sensitivity, and quiet intensity — an ongoing exploration of how light, form, and feeling intertwine to create meaning.
