12/09/2025
"KIRI"
PROJECT 2025
BY SAMUEL HICKS
PHOTOGRAPHER
My process for creating Kiri began when I discovered the paintings of Keita Morimoto.
His work truly resonated with me, especially his dusk scenes, which
I find particularly inspiring. They evoke the grading and use of light of Tod Hido and Gregory Crewdson,yet they focus more on everyday moments in cities like Tokyo.
I appreciated how the stillness is often paired with a sense that something is about to happen.
I keep daybooks, which are sketchbooks filled with magazines, newspapers, or flyers containing imagery I’ve collected over the years
spending about three days over a few weeks entering prompts and refining the imagery until I was satisfied with the results.
After a few months,I began to refine the project between commissions.
Subsequently, I assembled a team, and we captured the protagonist in the studio to be retouched into the plates I had created.
I still feel that AI does not always produce people that look entirely realistic. Additionally, I prefer to photograph real people, as they genuinely bring images to life.
