Living Portraits: Generative AI for Photographers (Ray 3)

I love when an idea refuses to sit still. Lately I’ve been chasing one of those ideas—a fashion concept where heirloom-grade sweaters become living characters. It started as a still-image portrait series, then I asked: what if the embroidery could move? What if the moths lifted off the knit, the snakes tightened and relaxed around a weathered neck, a peacock’s tail unfurled, and—because I can’t resist a left-turn—what if a NASA “astronaut” quietly revealed he isn’t human at all?

Generative AI made that jump possible. Not as a shortcut, but as a conceptual unlock—a way to think past the physical limits of a set, a budget, or even gravity, and go straight to the emotional beat I want the audience to feel.