Photographer Nastasia Dusapin Brings Her Dreamy Style to California

Photographer and director Nastasia Dusapin is most organically inspired when there are women in front of her. “If I am telling stories that are inside of me, I would like women to represent those stories,” she said. And not just her own stories—the women Nastasia shoots all have something to say. “There are a lot of things about women we need to speak about more… The medium I use is one way to start trying to change the world.”

From commercial work for the likes of Gucci, L’Oréal, Yves Saint Laurent, and Cartier to personal docu-style projects tackling issues like censorship of nudity on Instagram, Nastasia is drawn to female-driven concepts. The connection she establishes with her subjects results in work that is empowering, therapeutic, and gives women a voice.

“Women are inspiring to me, not just physically — I think it’s easier to take photos of women, easier to make them look more beautiful — but also because I feel like I understand them better and a connection is easier. When there’s a connection, the photos are better.”

When she arrived in San Francisco in 2018 after living in Paris her whole life, Nastasia fell in love with its inspiring mix of nature and productivity. A graduate of Les Gobelins school, a city by the ocean had always been her ideal, but she wasn’t sure at first if she’d find it in S.F. “People always think Paris is amazing, and I think we should keep that dream alive,” she said, laughing.