Best known for his long-running “Assembly” series, which sees schoolchildren lined up in geometric formations as they trek through the Japanese countryside, photographer Osamu Yokonami’s signature is the tension between the conviviality of the collective and remoteness of his chosen natural landscapes. In his new commission for AI startup Sesame, this affect likewise evokes the uncanny valley of digital connectivity, for all its unbridled potential and new age unfamiliarity.
A personal AI voice assistant made to keep the stream of creativity flowing, Sesame is rolling out an app this fall, with premium glasses coming in 2027. The brand tapped Yokonami for its first ever artist commission, a lineup of imagery that will greet users across platforms and signal the spirit of the company to new visitors.
The 59-year-old artist was given a single prompt to guide his lens: “Open what’s possible.” The Sesame team met with Yokonami in Japan—his home turf, and coincidentally where the brand’s soon-to-launch frames are crafted—as he experimented with light and movement over the course of one day. As the resulting images populate Sesame’s platforms this week, Yokonami sat down with CULTURED to discuss the beauty of repetition, what surprised him on set, and when to push past one’s limits.
How did your collaboration with Sesame come about, and what made the project feel like the right fit for your practice?
The collaboration came about after the team saw my “Assembly” series, which is something I’ve been developing as part of my own practice. Because they approached me through work I was already making, I felt I could approach the project as a natural extension of my existing practice. Rather than trying to become something different for the project, I felt I could bring it into the world I was already exploring and build from there.
What was the first thing that came to mind when you saw the prompt: “Open what’s possible”?
The first thing that came to mind was something positive, optimistic, and full of movement. “Open what’s possible” gave me a sense of something opening up and moving forward, and I wanted the images to carry that energy.
How did this shoot push you in a new direction, or to challenge yourself in a new way?
At first, I wasn’t using much motion blur, but the Sesame team suggested experimenting with a slower shutter speed to bring more movement and energy into the images. I tried it on set, and I think it created a really interesting effect. It pushed me to approach the images in a slightly different way than I normally would.
You noted to the team that this felt like a particularly special shoot for you. What do you expect to take away from it as you head into the next project?
It was cloudy when we started, but we kept shooting and stayed until the end. Eventually, the sun came out and gave us a completely different kind of light, which led to some really positive and unexpected images. I was glad we didn’t give up.
As the shoot went on, I also felt the models and the whole crew gradually coming together and supporting each other. By the end, there was a real sense of unity and accomplishment, like we had all created something together. The experience reminded me of the importance of staying with the process until the end, and also of building that energy together with everyone on set. That’s something I want to carry into my next project.
Where do you think AI belongs in the creative process? What about in your own?
I see AI as a tool that can support and assist the creative process. It can help expand possibilities and open up new ways of working, but I believe the starting point—the original idea or impulse—should come from the creator. In my own practice, I’m interested in using AI not to generate the idea for me, but as a tool to explore and develop ideas that already come from within.
How do you think about the relationship between the natural landscape and human figures that populate your work? Do they inspire different interests in you? One and the same?
By placing a group within a natural landscape, I think the contrast between the people and their surroundings becomes more pronounced. Against the stillness and openness of nature, the movement, energy, and strength of the group stand out even more. I’m very interested in that contrast.
These images possess a tension present in much of your work, between the collective and the individual. What keeps you circling this theme?
I keep returning to the relationship between the collective and the individual because, basically, I simply enjoy photographing people. I’m interested in both the strength that comes from being part of a group and the individuality of each person within it. By photographing the same idea repeatedly, I gradually begin to see the strength of the group and the richness of each individual more clearly. I feel that, through this process, the photographs also gain greater intensity.
What role do you think photography plays in an art world rapidly changing with the advent of new technologies? Is it something to be preserved, played with?
I think art is always closely connected to the context and background of its time. That’s why I don’t think photography needs to simply preserve the past. I believe it will continue to change with the times, while also merging and interacting with new technologies.
Personally, though, I hope that film and analog printing will never disappear. The physical qualities of photography, and the feeling of being able to actually touch a photograph, are very important to me.
You’ve noted that you are often discovering what the right image or next step is while on set. Can you share an example of a time you took a risk that led to an unexpected breakthrough?
The starting point for the “Assembly” series came from the powerful presence I felt when I saw groups of students wearing uniforms together in the city. I thought that by placing these groups in nature, their presence as a collective might become even more striking, so I decided to try photographing them that way.
As I continued photographing the series, I began to discover things that I hadn’t originally imagined. When I showed the work to people through photo books and other presentations, the response was much stronger than I had expected. That encouraged me to continue developing the series. I didn’t have a clear answer from the beginning. It was through continuing to photograph that I gradually began to understand what I wanted to do. I think that experience is what has led to the “Assembly” series as it is today.
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