An Incantation in Twelve Prompts (2023—25)

What transpires when a photographer becomes disillusioned with their craft or lured by newer, more novel tools, or when they become acutely aware of the inherent shortcomings of the medium in which they work—how then do they proceed?

An Incantation in Twelve Prompts is a poem paired with photographic images. The poem delineates a relationship between two lovers—the image maker and the medium of photography itself. Each stanza serves as a prompt, which is then fed into a text-to-image stable diffusion model.

The final pairing is the camera-born, and AI is used instead as an ideation tool, subverting the intended use of the technology altogether. The images employ traditional studio techniques, practical effects, and select digital and generative manipulations. Here, the synthetic melds seamlessly with the real, provoking the viewer to question the true referent of the photo.

This series was nominated for the Lumen Prize in the Still Image category in 2025.