Luna Sweetheart: Kai Diaz, A Captivating Visual Storyteller Who Creates Vibrant, Intentional Photography
THE POSSIBILITIES OF STORYTELLING ARE ENDLESS — to reel in the audience, you have to be able to create beyond your borders, bend some rules, and explore ideas you’d never thought you would. With that, originality is born when you learn to let go of those confined ideals and you let your imagination lead the way to have fun with creation. With a beautiful saturation of color, intentional composition, and strong sense of storytelling, Kai Diaz’s photography inspires curiosity.
Based in Solana Beach CA, Diaz is a multidisciplinary designer and photographer. Working in a variety of creative avenues including photography, graphic design, copywriting, website design, and content creation/strategy, Diaz’s work can be seen across several brands such as Blackbird Surfboards, AXO Nutrition, and MANSCAPED, among others.
Not being confined to just one genre of photography, Diaz enjoys finding that blink-of-an-eye moment and capturing sincerity. His exceptional understanding of composition and his ability to capture true moments will leave you pausing to understand the story behind the art
Read more below to learn about Diaz’s multiple avenues of creativity, his upcoming photo book, and overcoming creative roadblocks
LUNA: Hey, Kai! Thanks for joining us! How is your 2024 going so far?
DIAZ: It’s my pleasure — thank you for having me on here. I’m super flattered to be included with the amazing talents you’ve already featured. 2024 for me is going great! Feeling inspired and motivated to get creative.
LUNA: How did your photography journey begin?
DIAZ: My photography journey started back in the mid ’90s. I was always the kid with a camera of some sort, documenting everything, making surf and skate videos… In high school, I spent a lot of time in the darkroom and the graphic design department. I’m not sure that I found it to be my passion yet, but it was just something I did all day, every day.
LUNA: I love how vibrant and colorful your photography is. What do you love about shooting with film?
DIAZ: Thank you, I appreciate that! Other than the look and feel of film, what I love about it the most is its value and appreciation for something tangible. It keeps me in the moment. Without a digital screen, I have to count on recognizing what the light is doing and how it will react with whatever film stock I have loaded. Also the thought of the frame being locked into a physical medium. I also love the tactile process, from the excitement of stocking up on film to loading film into my camera, to developing [and] all the way to making a print in the darkroom.
LUNA: You work in multiple avenues of creativity such as design, strategy, photography, content creation, and copywriting. How do you manage to balance your work in these areas?
DIAZ: Luckily, they kind of trickle into each other, so it’s a constant mode of creativity, which I love. I put myself on a pretty disciplined time management [schedule]. For example, I make myself finish my client tasks before I can “play” with my camera and go take photos at the end of the day. Or before I can scan my [negatives], I have to finish all my client work. So I make it like a reward or treat at the end of my work day.
LUNA: What is something you strive to portray in your photography?
DIAZ: I think about this often. From time to time, it changes. Because I don’t box myself into a particular style of photography, I’m bouncing between genres often. But if I had to strive for what I’d like my audience to know about my photography work, I’d hope that they are questioning why I put something in my frame, questioning what I was feeling when I was in a scene, or [I hope it] gives them a glimpse into a world as I see it. Overall, I just hope they feel something from my work.
LUNA: As a creative, there are times that we hit creative blocks. Were there ever times when you took creative breaks? If not, what helped you get over some of your creative roadblocks?
DIAZ: Oh, most definitely! I hit creative blocks a lot. Although I take breaks from actually creating or making anything, my imagination is constantly working in the background. If I do take a break, it’s from client work. Then I switch to creating for me. To get over some roadblocks, traveling is my number one solution — seeing/doing something new. If I can’t travel, I do physical activities like surfing, Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu, or just being outdoors.
LUNA: What advice would you give to someone who is navigating their creative/photography journey?
DIAZ: These days, the advice I’ve been giving out [and to myself] is to not let social media or algorithms dictate what you want to create. It’s so easy to get sucked into what the internet tells you is good/bad art. Do you.
LUNA: Any upcoming projects/plans for 2024?
DIAZ: Yes! This Luna interview will be the first public share of a photobook that I’ve been working on. My good friend Marcelo and I have been curating my photos from the past five years to put into my first photobook. We’ve been working on it since January and have been meticulously making selects. Right now it’s about 250 pages with 200 photos. The book will include some street photography, new topography, and photos from my travels. This book will be mostly color photos… I might make a separate book with some of my black and white work.
I’m also planning to be in Brazil to help build a photo lab and do a seminar on film processing. And while there, I’ll have a gallery of my work showing. I’m excited for that trip.
LUNA: What brings you joy?
DIAZ: Being in a constant state of creation. Seeing/feeling joy in others. And my doggy, Harley.
LUNA: Question for fun: You have the opportunity to create your own film — what would the outcome of the images be? Be as creative as you want, it doesn’t have to be scientifically possible (laughs).
DIAZ: Ooh! So many possibilities if science isn’t involved. Reusable film stock. Back in the day, you could record over an audio tape or a VHS tape. Although, the more you record over it, it degrades. But how cool would that be if you can re-use your film? Or old films like Kodachrome, Aerochrome, Fuji Velvia, etc. — that comes in liquid form, then you dip and dunk to coat a piece of film with whatever emulsion you want. Now my imagination is running wild (laughs).
