Made by Müller

Forget the polished editorial. Jaša Müller’s photographs look more like pages ripped straight out of a psychedelic sketchbook. Bright pastel illustrations float dreamily across his subjects’ faces, layered with clouds and washes of color. The images resemble painted portraits, which makes sense: Müller prints out each photograph and transforms it by painting, drawing, cutting, and collaging directly onto the print before re-shooting the result.

This practice of physically altering his photographs began when Müller was 17, driven by a desire to make portraiture more personal and distinct. Nearly nine years later, the Paris-based photographer has had a breakout year, shooting multiple high-profile personalities and magazine covers, including PAPER’s own cover starring The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri. Müller sat down with PAPER to discuss blurring the lines between art and photography and the power of the handmade in the Age of AI.

Your work is mostly based in portraiture. What’s your process of photographing people? It’s such an intimate activity.

Most of my portraits are shot in my apartment, and the whole process usually takes about an hour. The person comes over, we sit on the balcony, smoke a few cigarettes, and talk. The actual shoot takes maybe 10 minutes. Very quick. For portraits specifically, I use a small camera, so it's very intimate. People are not that threatened by those cameras.

After that initial photo is taken, what is your postproduction process?

I like my initial image to be very simple, so I usually shoot on a white background. Then I transform it by printing it, coloring on it, cutting the paper, and applying digital postproduction elements as well. I just see where it leads me; the photos are all redone by hand to emphasize the textures, and then I re-photograph the altered print, so it brings these textures out. When you see the paintbrush strokes on the photos, that is actually me painting on the print.

In your final images, it’s clear you have such a command of color. How much of that is makeup, and how much of that is retouching?

Well, it really depends from image to image. Usually, the subject has no makeup, or the skin is just a bit glossy, and then it's all done in post-production. I physically apply most of the textures and color additions.

Your work feels very different from the repetitive, highly curated imagery that dominates social media, especially as AI content has encroached upon our feeds. It has a distinctly human quality to it. Do you think that personal energy is missing from photography today, and is that something you’re trying to bring back?

I think it’s cool that people see my work as part of a movement against AI, and I definitely stand by that, even though I started working this way long before AI was a thing. I think people

connect with it because they can see that someone actually made it. We’re entering a stage where it’s becoming harder to tell what’s genuine, which is scary. Even my process might eventually be mistaken for AI! But I think people connect with my photos because they see that it's something that a person made. Considering all of the AI slop out there, I’m super happy that the effort of my craft can be recognized in this way.

Talent: Heloisa Muniz
Photography: Jaša Müller
Story: Elizabeth Chung

Styling: Anna Castan
Makeup Artist: Marco Roscino
Hair Artist: Katrin Sachenko

Production: Marc-Antoine Brouard

Photo Assistant: Max Chollet
Stylist Assistant: Paul Chicouras