Caroline Japal is a multidisciplinary photographer and art director from Birmingham, Alabama. Her work exists at the intersection of editorial storytelling, intimate portraiture, and cultural reclamation. She holds a BFA in Photography and Painting from The University of Alabama and a MA in Design for Art Direction with Distinction from the University of Arts London.

Drawing on her upbringing as a Black Southern American, her work is rooted in themes of identity, memory, and reclamation. Her images often balance between movement and stillness, softness and strength. In her practice, she explores the subtleties of presence—how individuals occupy space both physically and emotionally. Drawn to the spirit of everyday environments: a chair left askew, a reflection in glass, or a fleeting gesture captured mid-motion. Every moment a reservoir for larger themes such as place, identity, and spirit.

Her work blends the polished clarity of editorial imagery with the emotional resonance of documentary photography, approaching each image as a layered story—one that resists flattening and instead invites deeper understanding.

Caroline Japal currently lives and works in New York City as an Art Director and Photographer.