About
Elizabeth Solaka Photography - New York City
Elizabeth Solaka Photography, New York. esolaka@gmail.com
Origins of a New York Photographer
Elizabeth was born in the experimental and historical Lafayette Park district in downtown Detroit and is the youngest of lots of siblings. As a five-year-old she roamed the neighborhood alone. She ate a full deli breakfast at Zukin’s before walking to school where she had a running tab that her dad took care of. Elizabeth taught herself to swim at the pool atop the parking structure between two Mies van der Rohe apartment towers; and got books from a bookmobile called RIF (Reading is Fun). And sometimes the truck with a swimming pool trailer rolled in and good times were had by all. It was the 70s.
Her mom, a ballerina, set up a ballet studio in the basement of her home, where Iacob Lascu of blessed memory got his start. He went on to choreograph and direct ballet at Marygrove College and had a celebrated career. For twenty years running, until 1997, he produced The Nutcracker performance with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Her mom also ran a thriving New York-style cheesecake and catering business and later a blues bar, The Soup Kitchen Saloon. As a pre-teen, Elizabeth had the honor of playing a duet on the piano with blues legend Willie Dixon at the bar while people, including her own mom, danced on the tables.
Her father of blessed memory, a Chaldean born in Iraq, was an architect who later joined his dad’s grocery store business. He had a store, the Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe, a New York-style gourmet deli with premium meat, the daily New York Times and caviar.
Motown artists such as the Spinners and the Temptations popped into the store. Once, Elizabeth even got a giant fabric rubber band from the Spinners in honor of their song, Rubber Band Man. She had full access to the food at the store. She grabbed King Cones from the freezer and ate them as she swung her feet off the check-out counter. Her grandmother of blessed memory, Peaches, had a little spot where she sat in the store. She knit, said hello to the regulars, and carried the cash home every day.
Her dad bartered steaks for gold chains with the local jeweler and he then would trade the jewelry with the house manager at the major music stadiums. For years, Elizabeth got to attend all of the big concerts sitting in house seats and VIP sections. Her dad never went; he sent his stock boy to take her. She saw Madonna’s Like a Virgin tour, Prince’s Purple Rain, Michael Jackson, The Cure, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and many more.
As a child Elizabeth was passionate about acting and directing, however when her big sister decided to become an actor, Elizabeth stepped aside and focused on the visual arts. In high school she won multiple awards mostly in graphic design. At Smith College, she was an Economics major with an emphasis on Art History and French. It wasn’t until she graduated that she took her first photography course at Boston Architectural College where she was taught by Todd Gieg who became her mentor and one of her lifelong friends. As soon as she got her first Hasselblad, her art and wedding career took off.
In the first decade of the 2000s for seven years she was the all-access photographer for Detroit’s Comerica Cityfest (originally Tastefest). It was a difficult gig to secure, and required many interviews, even though her brother was the head of the New Center Council. She had the privilege of photographing an array of incredible legendary, current and emerging musical artists of all genres. Her brother now owns the Detroit’s premier bar and club, Northern Lights Lounge.
She’s lived in Paris, Berlin, Boston, Northern California, Massachusetts and Los Angeles, but aside from Detroit, New York has always been her home sweet home and professional headquarters. She’s been featured in publications like The New York Times and Elle Magazine, and has worked for many non-profits, startups and fashion brands. Among her most meaningful and gratifying work is her fine art photography and her private clients’ weddings, bat and bar mitzvot, other events and portraits.
She holds a BA in Economics and French from Smith College and received her photography education at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, the Boston Architectural Center, and The New England School of Photography in Boston.
Check out her dozens of 5-star reviews on Wedding Wire to hear what couples are saying.
And of course, find her on Google.
Happy in NYC
Partial list of clients
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 esolaka@gmail.com
Porthole, 2007
2011
