Jessica Jennebach Varela is a London-based photographer, videographer, and graphic designer specialising in branding and complex lighting conditions. Trained in Direction of Photography, Colour Grading, Set Design, Sound, and Fine Art Photography, she creates high-end commercial and editorial work for brands, artists, and cultural institutions. Her practice centres on the sculpting of light through crafted visual narratives and techniques.

​Her work spans product, event, travel, hospitality, and wellness photography, alongside curated collaborations in music. Influenced by street dance and music, she draws on her background as a dancer and musician to explore storytelling through sound, movement, and light. Light is her medium. Her large scale prints are held in private collections and in design led hospitality spaces around the world, with her work published by cultural institutions internationally.

Fine Art photography exhibitions

Selected Exhibitions

‘XHIBIT 2022/2023’
Dray Walk Gallery, 91 Brick Lane, London E1 6QL
28 April – 3 May 2023

‘Counterfeit’
OPENing Gallery, 11 Angel Court, London EC2R 7BH
6 – 19 February 2023

‘BIG SPACE’
The Street, Central Saint Martins, Granary Square, London N1C 4AA
1 – 3 February 2023
Installation of a hand-sawn print on silk and cotton from the photographic series Berlin (2022). Suspended in the central atrium to interact with natural light and air flow, creating shifting patterns of movement and shadow.

‘PARASI7E’
Online Group Exhibition
25 January 2021
A collaborative digital project developed by a collective of Central Saint Martins artists, exploring sound, photography, animation, and performance.
Available at parasi7e.cargo.site

‘Mirror Mirror’
Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo, Japan
30 July – 4 August 2020
Group exhibition curated by Cheuklin Wu and Siyan Zhang. The project used mirrors to explore four themes—sky in the mirror, the colour red, intimacy, and visible sound—as a response to the global pandemic. Selected by LOHAS Magazine for its July 2020 edition.

Foundation in Art and Design Summer Show
Camberwell College of Arts, Foundation Centre, 1 Wilson Road, London
5 – 11 May 2019
Exhibited Keith Mirror | What’s He Building In There?, a photographic and sound installation piece.

Sound & Digital Art Events

Sonic Reverb
CSM Fine Art 4D Collaborative Project | sonicreverb.tumblr.com
One-day public event, with the exhibition open for one week.
Presented La Creación, an experimental sound piece using low frequencies, daily lockdown recordings, and poetic rhythm. Inspired by hip-hop, Spanish nightlife, and the poetic structure of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer. Every sound symbolically referenced Romanticist language and rhythm.

DND Emotion Map
In collaboration with N. Wong Zhao and A. Pert
Multi-sensory interactive experience combining ambient sound, an HTML maze, and a VR space designed to reflect emotional mapping through digital landscapes.

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EDUCATION 

DIP. IN SET DESIGN AND FASHION DESIGN BY CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS AND LONDON COLLEGE OF FASHION 

​FD CAMBERWELL COLLEGE OF ARTS; F. DIP. IN ART AND DESIGN, PHOTOGRAPHY AND TIME BASED MEDIA

BFA CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS; FINE ART, 4D PATHWAY

​MFA UDIT; GRAPHIC DESIGN. | + SPECIALISED TRAINING: LETTERING W. IVAN CASTRO AT CALLIGRAPHY ITALIA and LETTERING WITH VALENTINA CASALI (HANS ZIMMER LIVE 2021)

​DIP. IN: ADVANCED AI (CEI) & DIGITAL MARKETING  (IE BUSINESS SCHOOL)

​CINEMATOGRAPHY COURSE AT RAINDANCE LONDON

DIP. IN DIRECTION OF MUSIC VIDEOS BY ELISAVA Barcelona School of Design and Engineering )

 
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​​ABOUT ME I’m a photographer, graphic designer, and videographer with a passion for crafting stories through light and sound.

My practice moves fluidly between commercial and fine art work, covering music festivals, health and fitness, fashion and hospitality, creative artist portraits, and studio photography. I’m experienced in colour grading, medium-format systems, broadcast equipment, and film cameras, and I’ve contributed to cinematographic productions and fashion campaigns. Alongside photography, I work as a graphic designer with a focus on branding, particularly for clients in the health and wellness space (fitness is a big personal passion), as well as editorial design. I have a long standing love for vintage typography and packaging, which continues to shape the visual identities I create. I’m also deeply connected to maritime life: I earned my boat licence in 2022, have recently produced advertising campaigns for sailing events, and am a strong conservation advocate.

I began studying photography in Madrid in 2016, specialising in studio lighting. Over time, that foundation expanded into cinematography, and I began applying the knowledge gained from my studies in fashion and set design to bring my ideas to life. Since then, I’ve developed a photography practice rooted in alternative and highly technical processes, including astrophotography, infrared, and underwater work. My fine art projects involved a long colour correction and print production process and materialise as large-scale prints commissioned for restaurants, hotels, and private collectors. My other projects are largely commissioned for advertising.
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About my practice 

Landscape & Light My photographic education began in 2016, moving between studio controlled light and the raw storytelling of photojournalism. 2017, I began modifying my own camera to explore infrared photography, initially capturing desert landscapes and natural textures from my home. This sparked an ongoing exploration of nature and light in extreme environments. I have traveled to 30 countries and have worked with astrophotography, light painting and, since earning my boat licence in 2022, underwater photography and field recording. Influenced by German photographers and literature, my aim is to create and capture powerful and mysterious images that hold light as a medium. My 2023 degree project (featuring sound-reactive photography and a mixed-media series using sea salt and yellow flower ink from southern Mallorca applied to distressed Mamiya film) was selected for Photo London 2024.

Graphic Design My work in branding, luxury and sustainable packaging and editorial design is deeply informed by perceptual psychology and the emotional impact of light, sound and colour in space. My 2023 BA thesis explored these principles and their influence on audiences and consumer environments. I often incorporate alternative techniques (such as chlorophyll printing, transaquatypes, cliché-verre, and other experimental printmaking processes) into my posters, record sleeves, and editorial projects. Furthermore, I am inspired by vintage graphic design and artists such as Louise Fili, as well as by  Art Deco, Catalan typography, and European signage from the 1920s to the 1950s.

​Animation & Sound I produce music on the spot, creating original tracks tailored to each video edit. Music and rhythm are at the core of my practice. I’ve played piano since the age of six and later took up drums, my most personal instrument. I produce music as a form of visual research, translating rhythm into colour, movement and texture. Influenced by street dance, literature and theatre, my work often features symbolic, layered compositions set within carefully designed environments I refer to as “the stage.” During the pandemic, my practice shifted toward digital animation, music production and 3D landscapes using Cinema 4D, leading to the creation of The Creation Series (2021)- a body of work exploring sound, body movement and poetic rhythm (Bécquer's lyric poems) in visual form. I am also experienced in videomapping for live events + fine art and After Effects.

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