Photoshoot collaboration · Adobe Express generative AI · Art direction and edits
Ornamentation Concept Photoshoot
- See
- Feel
The brief
A photoshoot made in collaboration with Hausson Byrd, also known as Progress.Ink, that I took further with generative AI in Adobe Express, adding what the camera could not hold: a crowd, a flock of crows, a burlap sack, and a grade that sets the mood. Three pieces: Still Standin', Ft. Your Favorite Ornament, and Christmas Is the New Auction Block.
My role
Art direction and every generative edit, in Adobe Express.
My approach
This concept grew out of my experience as a Black man in this country: often treated as an addition to the world, something placed in it for decoration, rather than a central part of it.
It came together around Christmas. I put myself in a Christmas tree field, standing where a cut tree would stand, as if I had grown out of the ground like the trees around me. The image holds a hard conversation about how society can see Black men: like trees in that field, cut one down and expect another to grow back in its place.
The titles carry the rest. Still Standin'. Ft. Your Favorite Ornament. Christmas Is the New Auction Block. The crowd, the crows and the burlap sack were added with generative AI so the message is impossible to look past.
Process
Shoot
The originals were shot on location in a Christmas tree field.
Generate
Generative fill in Adobe Express added the crowd, the crows and the burlap sack.
Grade
Each edit got its own color grade, from cold winter grey to a saturated teal.
Before and after
Drag across each photo to compare the original with the AI-finished piece.
OriginalAfter AI
OriginalAfter AI
OriginalAfter AI