Resurrecting Monsters: How Archives Can Fuel Radical Storytelling
A Documentary Photographer's Journey From Ancient Scrolls to Radical Futures
The Moment Everything Changed
When I first unrolled digital scans of The Bakemono Zukushi Scroll - an 18th-century catalog of Japanese yokai monsters - I didn't see museum artifacts. I saw potential partners for Hong Kong's Voidpunk community.
This revelation became the heart of my ongoing project Beyond Human: The Rise of Voidpunk, where I document how this counterculture reclaims dehumanization through radical self-reinvention. The archive assignment wasn't just academic - it became a vital chapter in understanding how historical "monsters" could empower modern outsiders.
My Creative Process: Where Archives Meet AI
1. Choosing the Right Monsters
I selected six yokai from the scroll based on their resonance with Voidpunk themes:
Symbols of fluid identity
Representing nonbinary existence
Embodying rebellious energy
2. The AI Struggle (And Breakthrough)
As a neurodivergent artist, someone with aphantasia (inability to visualize mental imagery), I needed AI to bridge the gap between archive and imagination. After 100+ failed attempts with Stable Diffusion, I discovered the perfect workflow:
ControlNet Edge Mapping: Used canny edge detection to extract the scroll's ink outlines
Precision Prompting:
"18th-century Japanese ink textures + biomechanical implants + Hong Kong neon glow"
"Genderless cyborg with kappa's beak and exposed circuitry"
Ruthless Curation: Only 6 of 120 generations made the cut
3. Bringing the Archive to Life
The Voidpunk community will then:
Adapt the AI concepts into wearable prosthetics
Create mating rituals blending yokai lore with cyberpunk aesthetics
Write backstories for their monster partnerships
Why This Matters for Documentary Practice
1. Archives as Collaborative Partners
The scroll stopped being a "reference" and became:
A design blueprint for Voidpunk costumes
A conversation starter about historical vs. modern monstrosity
A catalyst for community storytelling
2. AI as an Accessibility Tool
For neurodivergent creators like myself:
Serves as a "visual sketchpad" when mental imagery fails
Requires careful constraints (edge maps, curated prompts) to prevent generic outputs
3. Small Assignment, Bigger Project
This experiment now informs:
Future Exhibition: Yokai-Voidpunk hybrids will be featured in an upcoming exhibition
https://voidpunk.org: A possible platform for digital archive connecting historical monsters to modern Voidsonas
Future Chapters: Exploring how other marginalized groups can "adopt" archival monsters
Three Lessons for Visual Storytellers
Archives Demand Active Conversation
Don't just observe - interrogate, remix, resurrect
technologies serves vision (not vice versa)
AI only worked when I forced it to obey the archive’s DNA
communities complete the story
Voipunks will transform my images from concepts to living cultures, and then I will photograph them in those new identities
Call-to-action: What forgotten histories could inspire your next project?
