Jan Söhlke
Photographer for science, industry, and corporate clients.
I photograph for science, industry, and corporate clients across NRW and beyond – laboratories, research facilities, and scientific infrastructure; factory floors, workshops, and industrial operations; businesses, campaigns, and the people who run them. Alongside this work, I shoot products ranging from precision instruments to artisan items, and portraits that put their subjects firmly in their world. Based in Telgte near Münster, within close reach of Osnabrück, Bielefeld, and the Ruhr area, I am working where the assignment takes me.
Across all three disciplines, my approach is the same: find the centre of gravity in the frame and let it anchor everything else. That clarity comes from creating the right conditions through preparation – asking the right questions before arriving, and reading the environment before shooting. With patience, this process leaves room for beautiful things a brief can’t anticipate.
From CARS laser setups, ultra-high vacuum systems and aeroacoustic wind tunnels to factory floors, corporate offices, and election campaigns: I photograph the full range of professional environments with a background that lets me navigate them naturally.
A chance encounter in a lunch queue leads to a technical photography session at the University of Siegen’s wind tunnel, documen...
Discover how technical precision, compositing, and strategic consultancy created impactful campaign imagery in the 2025 elections.
Portraits of Joy Wangechi Muriithi and Stella Kemboi during their CARS research stay, documenting the international collaborati...
Exploring the intersection of precision and grace in a dance photography masterclass with dancer Daria Stratovych, and photogra...
Photographing a Fourier Ptychographic Microscopy Setup: An exploration of conflicting spatial demands and the interdisciplinary...
Exploring the intersection of high-level research and visual strategy: Dr. Jan Söhlke captures Europe's unique PVD system, focu...
A look at the researcher behind the CARS instrumentation. A study of focus and professional trust in science photography at ZES...
A photographical look at capturing nonlinear four-wave mixing and the precision of optical delay lines in a CARS laser setup.
Explore how a strategic approach to photography elevated the brand identity for coaching agency Sunny Monday – from location sc...
You are looking for a photographer who will strengthen your visual identity or you have a photography project in mind you’d like to discuss? Get in touch, and we’ll make it happen:
I shoot on location in labs, factories, and research facilities, working with genuine curiosity for the processes and the people running them.
With more than a decade of experience in industrial, science, and corporate photography, I bring a genuine understanding of the world I shoot in – earned through completing a PhD and years heading communications across research, business, and startup environments.
What I enjoy about product photography is that through spending time with an object that otherwise gets overlooked as a mere utility, beauty can be found in unexpected places.
Making the extraordinary within the ordinary visible for others always is a very exciting process.
In the words of Arnold Newman, Portrait photography is 10% inspiration and 90% moving furniture.
It never ceases to amaze me how, by creating a carefully designed context for the subject (or: by moving some furniture around), photography can condense the many facets of a personality into a single image.
Industrial, scientific, and corporate photographer. Based in Telgte near Münster, within close reach of Osnabrück, Bielefeld, and the Ruhr area. Staff photographer at ZESS/University of Siegen. Working for research institutions, universities, and business clients across NRW and beyond.
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