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Born-Digital Archivist | Portraiture Photographer | Black British Intangible Cultural Heritage Artist-Researcher.
ND Oral Historian | Founder of The Black Art Hub CIC & Benjamin Zephaniah Community Library & Archives.
AI-assisted / AI-hybrid Creative Technologist
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Episode 4: In conversation with Michi Masumi (pt 1)
1 April 2026 – The Creative Careers and AI Podcast
In this episode, host Jo speaks with me about my creative work and my decision to experiment with AI in my practice. My research combines creative production with critical analysis, exploring how AI systems reinforce bias and flatten identity.
The conversation is spread across two episodes.
In this first instalment, the focus is on my digital AI hybrid and AI-assisted art.
The Creative Careers and AI Podcast is a free educational podcast for creative students, tutors and parents
All areas of the creative industries are evolving due to advances in AI tools. This has an impact on the entry-level jobs for students of the creative arts. This podcast connects with creative professionals and academics to explore what these changes mean for young creatives working towards a creative career.
@TheCreativeCareersAndAIPodcast
🌍 CULTURAL HERITAGE
Cultural Heritage & Living Archives
My work sits within the field of "born-digital cultural heritage", where lived experience, memory, and identity are actively documented, preserved, and transformed into archival assets (IDCHAA).
Through the DAIACHA framework,
I work across the following:
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intangible cultural heritage (memory, voice, identity)
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digital cultural practices
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oral history and lived experience
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community-led documentation
This work helps create living digital archives, safeguarding cultural narratives from loss, misrepresentation, or exclusion in future records.
I am a transdisciplinary artist-researcher and born-digital archival portraiture photographer working at the intersection of Black British cultural heritage, oral history, and AI-assisted/AI-hybrid creative practice.
My work spans photography, sonic poetry, digital archives, AI-hybrid visual art and cultural anthropology, with a focus on documenting and preserving the lived experiences of Black British women as intangible cultural heritage.
Through a human-led approach to creative technology.
I treat AI as an assistive tool rather than an author—supporting processes, expanding creative possibilities and enabling the development of ethical, community-centred digital archives.
Alongside my creative work, I carefully create digital portrait collections, where each image serves as both art and a cultural record, backed by information about the subjects, their permission, and methods for keeping the digital files safe for a long time.
My work falls within Black Studies and Black British Feminism, contributing to new ways of documenting, archiving, and representing identity through contemporary digital and visual methods.
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📸 ARCHIVAL PORTRAITURE
Archival Portraiture & Environmental Documentation
I specialise in born-digital archival & portraiture photography, creating
Photographic works that serve both functions:
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fine art
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cultural records
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archival assets
My practice includes:
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Studio Portraits (controlled, intentional, identity-led)
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Environmental Portraits (context, lived space, real life)
🎯 Specialism
I specialise in:
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Black British communities
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UK women (all backgrounds)
My work centres, on visibility, nuance, and lived experience; I ensure representation moves beyond stereotypes and into archival truth and complexity.
To receive a quote, please email msmichimasumi@gmail.com.
💼ARCHIVAL SERVICES
Archival Services & Community Archive Development
I offer consultancy and creative services to support individuals, organisations and communities in building born-digital cultural archives.
🧭 Archive Setup & Strategy
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Advice, structure and planning
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Metadata, ethics and workflow systems
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ND-friendly archive design
💰 From £150
🎙 Oral History & Documentation
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Interview design & facilitation
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Recording (audio/video)
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Transcription + archive preparation
💰 From £300 - £600 per session
📸 Archival Photography Services
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Portrait documentation
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Environmental storytelling
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Cultural archive creation
💰 From £250 - £500 per session
👉 Work with me / request a quote →
🏛 Born-Digital Archive Creation
🥉 Tier 1: Cultural Heritage Library Setup
👉 Entry level — ideal for individuals, small groups, early-stage projects
Includes:
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Basic digital library setup
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File organisation system
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Intro to metadata (simple cataloguing)
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Guidance on ethics + consent
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ND-friendly structure
💰 Price: From £850 – £1,400
⏳ Timeframe: 2–6 weeks
🥈 Tier 2: Cultural Heritage Archive (Structured + Catalogued)
👉 Mid-level — for organisations, funded projects, community groups
Includes:
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Everything in Tier 1
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Structured archive system
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Full cataloguing framework (metadata fields)
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File naming + classification system
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Basic preservation guidance (3–2–1)
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Light platform setup or integration
💰 Price: From £2,500 – £3,500
⏳ Timeframe: 8–12 weeks
🥇 Tier 3: Born-Digital Archive Creation (Full System)
👉 High-level —
Includes:
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Full online archive setup (CMS-based)
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Structured collections (IDCHAA)
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Advanced metadata + cataloguing system
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Platform build + organisation
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User navigation (ND-friendly design)
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Ethics, consent + governance structure
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Preservation strategy (PAC: Preservation, Archiving, Cataloguing)
💰 Price: From £5,000 – £8,500+
👉 (This option is scalable, and bespoke quotations are provided.)
⏳ Timeframe: 16–26 weeks (4–6 months)
🎯 ADD-ON SERVICES
You already listed these – here's how they sit alongside tiers:
🎙 Oral History & Documentation
per session/project block
📸 Archival Photography
per session
👉 These can:
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stand alone
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OR feed into Tier 2 & 3 projects
📣 Current Call-Outs (Participation & Research)
I am currently inviting participants for archival portraiture, oral histories, and cultural documentation:
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Black British Service Personnel / Armed Forces (30+)
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Black women based in Medway
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UK women from all backgrounds (30+)
These contributions form part of a growing born-digital cultural archive.
👉 Register interest / take part →
✊🏾 Summary
This work ensures that lived experience becomes:
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documented
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preserved
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accessible
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recognised as cultural heritage
Member of ARA & Oral History Society (OHS)
A selection from the archival collection project of black-and-white environmental portraits, capturing the tattoo industry within Medway.
A selection from An archival collection project of black-and-white environmental portraits, capturing the tattoo industry within Medway though photographic narration by Michi Masumi
A selection from An archival collection project of black-and-white environmental portraits, capturing the tattoo industry within Medway though photographic narration by Michi Masumi
A selection from the archival collection project of black-and-white environmental portraits, capturing the tattoo industry within Medway.
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