by Jerome D.
Introduction
Jordi Koalitic is the stage name of Jordi Puig, one half of a Spanish creative photography and video production team based in Andorra — and, by any measurable metric, the most followed photographer on social media in the world.
His Instagram account (@jordi.koalitic) has over 7.5 million followers, making it the largest creative photography account globally. His TikTok has accumulated more than 21 million followers. His YouTube channel has reached over 3.6 billion views with more than 6.5 million subscribers. His combined audience across all platforms exceeds 35 million people — a reach that no traditional photography institution or gallery can approach.
He did not build this audience through documentary work, fine art practice, or photojournalism. He built it through creative trick photography: ingeniously staged, technically precise images that exploit perspective, light, props, and post-processing to produce surprising, often funny, always immediately shareable visual illusions. A tiny person balancing on the edge of a coffee cup. A cloud held in a hand. A figure silhouetted inside a soap bubble. The appeal is universal, the techniques are learnable, and the execution — which looks simple and often involves elaborate behind-the-scenes setups — is highly skilled.
His commercial clients reflect his position at the intersection of photography and content creation: Google Chrome, McLaren F1, J Balvin, Sony Pictures Spain, and major global brands commission him regularly. He has photographed with Scarlett Johansson and worked with Steve Aoki. His team, operating under the Koalitic Kollective banner, produces commercial campaigns, brand content, and educational material simultaneously.
He is a Nikon Europe Ambassador — confirmed on his Instagram profile and in a dedicated profile by Nikon UK — as well as an official ambassador for Adorama, Xiaomi Global, Insta360, Nanlite Official, and Cupra. All ambassadorships are listed in his public Instagram bio.
As he told Nikon: "The moment I press the shutter and do something artistic, I feel like I'm in a parallel reality."
And on his philosophy: "Creating an impactful image goes beyond having the right equipment. It's about knowing how to use light, creating quality compositions, and playing with colors. But above all, telling a story, being able to convey an idea with a single image."
Camera Gear Used by Jordi Koalitic
Koalitic's gear is among the most clearly and publicly documented of any photographer featured on this site — he is a professional ambassador for multiple brands and regularly demonstrates his equipment in YouTube tutorials and behind-the-scenes content. What follows is sourced strictly from his own statements and confirmed ambassador relationships.
Primary Camera: Nikon Z9
Nikon Z9 — His primary confirmed camera, identified explicitly in Nikon UK's own editorial profile of him. He states directly: "The Nikon Z9 is an incredibly powerful camera with sharp image quality." His TikTok also includes a dedicated video of him using the Z9 for winter scene photography. The Z9 is Nikon's flagship mirrorless camera — a 45.7 megapixel full-frame stacked CMOS body capable of 20 frames per second, 8K video, and electronic shutter speeds up to 1/32,000s. For Koalitic's style of photography, which frequently requires freezing fast-moving elements (water splashes, thrown objects, mid-air props) with absolute sharpness, the Z9's combination of high resolution, fast burst rates, and electronic shutter precision is directly relevant.
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| Nikon Z9 check price on Amazon |
He is a Nikon Europe Ambassador, confirmed by both his Instagram profile and Nikon UK's editorial content. His Nikon relationship provides him with current bodies and lenses; the Z9 is his confirmed primary body at the time of writing.
360° Camera: Insta360
Insta360 (ambassador, specific model unconfirmed) — Listed as an official ambassador on his Instagram bio. Insta360 cameras are used in his creative content for unique perspectives and behind-the-scenes capture — their ability to shoot 360° and then reframe in post makes them useful for his style of elaborate, multi-element setups where conventional cameras cannot cover the full scene. The specific Insta360 model used is not confirmed in publicly available sources and is therefore not listed here.
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| Insta 360 check price on Amazon |
Lighting: Nanlite
Nanlite lighting equipment (ambassador) — Confirmed official ambassador, listed in his Instagram bio. Nanlite produces professional LED continuous lighting and flash systems. Given the controlled, studio-like nature of many of his setups — where precise light placement is critical to the perspective trick or compositional illusion — quality continuous LED lighting is a significant part of his toolkit. Specific Nanlite models used are not publicly confirmed.
Mobile Camera: Xiaomi
Xiaomi Global smartphones (ambassador) — Confirmed official ambassador, listed in his Instagram bio. Koalitic uses Xiaomi smartphones as part of his content creation toolkit, consistent with his philosophy that creative photography is accessible to anyone regardless of the camera they own. Specific Xiaomi models are not individually confirmed in publicly available sources.
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| Xiaomi 17 Ultra |
Working Methodology: Confirmed Settings and Techniques
Koalitic has confirmed specific technical approaches across the Nikon UK editorial profile and his YouTube content:
Manual mode exclusively — He shoots in manual for "full control", particularly when working with layers or objects in motion. Manual exposure allows him to maintain consistent exposure across multiple frames in a sequence, which is essential for his compositing-heavy workflow.
High shutter speeds for freezing motion — He confirmed using 1/500s, 1/1000s, or 1/2000s to freeze elements in mid-air and capture crisp, detail-sharp motion. These shutter speeds are central to his most celebrated images: water splashes, thrown props, and figures jumping all require shutter speeds in this range to produce the clean, frozen quality that makes the images work as visual illusions.
Slow shutter speeds for long exposure — He confirmed using 3 to 10 seconds with a tripod for long-exposure and motion blur effects — the opposite end of his shutter speed range, used for light painting, motion trails, and atmospheric backgrounds.
Tripod as a constant — Both his high-speed freezing work and his long-exposure work require a tripod, which is a fundamental tool in his kit. Multiple behind-the-scenes images confirm consistent tripod use across his setups.
Technique and Style
Jordi Koalitic's photography is defined by a single, very specific quality: the deliberate exploitation of perspective, scale, and timing to make the impossible look real in a single frame. He does not use heavy Photoshop compositing in the manner of digital artists — his images are primarily constructed in camera, using the relationship between camera position, subject placement, background, and props to create the illusion.
His most celebrated technique is perspective manipulation: placing a small object very close to the camera and a person or landscape element at a distance, then using a long depth of field to bring both into focus simultaneously, making the small object appear to interact with the larger element. A coffee cup held close to the camera, with a figure positioned behind it at exactly the right distance, appears to contain a person. A phone screen positioned in front of a sunset reflects the horizon in a way that makes it appear the phone has captured something real.
He describes his visual philosophy in straightforward terms: "My style of photography is simple, creative and disruptive." The simplicity is deliberate — his images communicate their concept immediately, without requiring the viewer to work to understand what they are seeing. The disruption is in the unexpectedness: the familiar object placed in the unfamiliar relationship.
His working process, as described in his own content, is highly systematic. He conceives the concept first — often sketched or storyboarded — then identifies the location, props, and lighting required, then builds the setup, tests it with the Polaroid equivalent of digital test shots, and only then photographs the final frame. The spontaneous-looking image is the product of careful pre-production.
As he puts it: "Even though the team and I are active on platforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, where video content plays a big role, at heart we're photographers first. Video allows us to show our creative process in the most natural and easy-to-understand way possible."
His Picture Control preferences — "anything from neutral to vivid, depending on the scene" — reflect a flexible approach to colour rendering that adapts to the concept of each image rather than imposing a consistent colour signature across his body of work. His images span punchy, saturated colour and cooler, more neutral palettes depending on what the concept requires.
How to Imitate His Style in Post-Processing
Koalitic's images are primarily constructed in camera rather than in post-production — the perspective tricks and scale illusions exist in the physical world, not in Photoshop layers. However, post-processing plays a role in finalising the colour, contrast, and overall presentation. Pixlr is an excellent tool for approaching his clean, graphic aesthetic:
Boost clarity and local contrast moderately.
His images have a clean, sharp quality — no atmospheric haze, no soft focus, no film grain. In Pixlr's Clarity or Detail slider, a moderate positive adjustment increases local contrast and gives the image the crisp, punchy quality that reads well at small sizes on social media.
Adjust colour based on concept, not consistency.
Unlike photographers who apply a consistent colour treatment across all their work, Koalitic varies his colour palette to serve each concept. For vibrant, energetic images, push global saturation and boost the specific hue that anchors the composition in Pixlr's HSL tool. For more atmospheric images, desaturate and add a slight cool or warm tint.
Keep backgrounds clean.
His perspective tricks depend on uncluttered backgrounds that don't compete with the foreground illusion. In Pixlr, use the Vignette tool very subtly to darken the edges of the frame and keep the eye on the central element. Avoid anything that adds visual noise to the area behind the main subject.
Export at maximum quality for social media.
His images need to hold up at the compressed sizes and resolutions of Instagram and TikTok without losing the sharpness that makes the perspective tricks readable. Export from Pixlr at the highest quality JPEG setting and check that fine details remain visible after compression.
How to Shoot Like Jordi Koalitic
Concept first, camera second.
He begins every image with a concept — a specific visual idea, often sketched before any equipment is touched. The camera is the execution tool, not the source of inspiration. Start with a clear answer to "what do I want this image to say?" before choosing a location or picking up a camera.
Master the relationship between distance and apparent size.
His perspective tricks all exploit the fact that objects appear smaller as they move further from the camera — and that the camera cannot distinguish between a small object close up and a large object far away. Place a small prop close to your lens and a person or landscape element behind it, lock focus on the foreground element, and experiment with camera position until the two appear to interact.
Use high shutter speeds to freeze the unexpected.
His most dynamic images freeze elements — water, thrown props, jumping figures — at shutter speeds of 1/500s to 1/2000s. Set your camera to manual, dial in a high shutter speed appropriate to the light, and throw or drop elements into the frame. Shoot in continuous burst mode and select the best frame in post.
Build your setup with test shots.
His workflow involves systematic testing before committing to the final frame. Take test shots at every stage of the setup — checking the perspective alignment, the lighting balance, the depth of field — before bringing in the final subject. The pre-production discipline is what separates his images from lucky accidents.
Show the behind-the-scenes.
A significant part of Koalitic's creative model is revealing how his images are made — the before-and-after, the setup revealed. This transparency is not just content strategy; it is genuinely educational and has built an audience that trusts him precisely because they understand his process. Showing how you made an image adds value rather than diminishing the magic.
Treat the platform as the medium.
He is explicit that his primary audience is social media, and his images are designed for that context: immediate visual impact, concept-clear at small sizes, shareable without explanation. If you are building a photography practice for social media, design your images for the feed, not the gallery wall. These are different constraints that produce different images.
Legacy
Jordi Koalitic's significance in the photography world is genuinely contested, and that contestation is worth addressing directly. Traditional photography's establishment views social media photography — particularly the genre of trick or concept photography he represents — as entertainment content rather than serious practice. That judgment, whatever its aesthetic merits, ignores a straightforward fact: Koalitic has introduced more people to the creative possibilities of photography than any institution, museum, or magazine of the past decade.
His 3.6 billion YouTube views are not photographs — but they are people learning how photographs are made, discovering that the impossible-looking image has a systematic, learnable technique behind it, and being motivated to pick up a camera and try. The democratisation of photographic knowledge that his channel represents is a genuine contribution to the medium's culture, regardless of how one evaluates the images themselves.
His commercial success — campaigns for Google Chrome, McLaren F1, and major global brands — demonstrates that his approach has real market value beyond entertainment. His ability to translate a brand brief into a visually immediate, shareable single image is a professional skill that requires technical precision and creative intelligence in equal measure.
His Koalitic Kollective — the production team and creative community he has built around the brand — represents an evolution from solo content creator to a full creative studio, capable of producing commercial campaigns at scale.
Whether Jordi Koalitic belongs in the same conversation as the documentary and fine art photographers featured elsewhere on this site is a question each reader can answer for themselves. What is not in question is his influence on how a generation of young photographers thinks about what a photograph can do.
Conclusion
Jordi Koalitic photographs with a Nikon Z9 as his primary camera, shoots in manual mode with shutter speeds ranging from 1/2000s for freezing motion to 10 seconds for long exposure, uses Nanlite LED lighting for his controlled setups, and incorporates Insta360 cameras for behind-the-scenes and alternative perspectives. He is an official ambassador for Nikon Europe, Adorama, Xiaomi Global, Insta360, and Nanlite.
His practice is a reminder that equipment serves concept, and concept serves communication — and that the most technically sophisticated camera is only as valuable as the idea behind it.
"Creating an impactful image goes beyond having the right equipment."
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