Eleven
This is Dek Unu Magazine. In Esperanto, dek unu means "eleven." Eleven images from a single artist. Eleven artists in eleven solo issues in each publication year. Dek Unu publishes the work of a new artist-photographer in each issue. The artist's work and words are featured in individual focus as the sole purpose for each issue of the magazine. Unlike other arts and letters magazines which might look for work from a variety of artists to support an editorial staff's theme, at Dek Unu, theme and imagery are always each artist's own.
Recently a field of websites has bloomed that use “artificial intelligence” to create headshots from uploaded selfies, for resumés, applications, and other self-marketing. The input pictures are mixed and massaged into a portrait by A.I., which typically selects an appropriate background, costume, and pose to fit its purpose. Three-button and pants suit corporate hopefuls, open collar business casual salespeople, or even actors, writers, and creatives can, from a couple of snapshots, have images made to order. The large language model is trained to know what each headshot “should” look like. The result is, quite reliably, a mask—blemishes blended, coiffure cut and combed, and most of the truth “corrected."
Jamaican-American photographer Kuro, like others among the best fine art portrait-makers, is not interested in the mask or any conventionalized replica of reality. His work, posed or candid, digs in to tell the deeper story of its subjects and, inevitably, the story of the artist as well. Each image is an intimate visual narrative: rediscovery after losing love, yearning for unattainable moments, or finding safety in a familiar space during life’s upheavals. Inspired by kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold to make new art, Kuro's photography is grown from his difficult personal history and the collective memory of Black experiences. His art honors the cracks and fractures of life. His work is a love letter to the complexity, resilience, and beauty of Blackness.
In Kuro’s own words, “Through Kintsugi, I hope to show that our scars, no matter how deep, can be mended into something even more meaningful. This project is my story, pieced together through my lens, and it’s a reminder that there is profound beauty in embracing our imperfections.”