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Photography | Editorial

Light Remembers

Poetic photography meets editorial longing

Client
Jimin Song
Industry
Photography & Art
Launched
November 2025
Focus
Where pixels carry the weight of unsent letters.

Scope

Editorial designPhotographyStorytelling

An intimate gallery for post-love rituals. We designed a site that feels like wandering through midnight corridors—frost-touched, literary, and achingly beautiful.

Visual Identity

Design language we crafted

Color story

Midnight ink, frost lavender, silver grain

A palette borrowed from winter nights and analog film stock.

Type system

Serif devotion meets sans precision

High-contrast editorial serif for poetry, paired with subtle sans for navigation.

Image treatment

Grain overlays and gentle vignettes

Every photograph carries the texture of analog memories and soft-focus longing.

Process

How we shaped the experience

01

Design intention

This wasn't a typical portfolio. We treated the site like a visual novel—each scroll reveals fragments of stories told through Istanbul's tides and Sofia's alleys.

  • Full-bleed layouts that prioritize the photography over chrome
  • Poetic microcopy woven into navigation and transitions
  • Deliberate pacing: generous whitespace allows each image to breathe
02

Editorial voice

The copy reads like late-night letters. We collaborated on tone to ensure every word felt handwritten, intimate, and unapologetically sentimental.

  • Pull quotes styled as margin notes in a beloved novel
  • Section headers that feel like chapter titles in a memoir
  • Commission CTA framed as an invitation to share unfinished stories
03

Technical craft

Built in Next.js for performance without sacrificing atmosphere. Images are optimized but retain their grain. Transitions are slow, intentional, almost cinematic.

  • Next/Image with custom blur placeholders for ambient loading
  • Intersection Observer choreography for scroll-triggered reveals
  • Dark mode by default with subtle lavender accents

Timeline

Sprint phases

01

Discovery

Mood and narrative

  • Palette derived from film photography and winter cityscapes
  • Copywriting sessions to define the voice: poetic but legible
02

Design

Layout and typography

  • Gallery prototypes balancing full-bleed and editorial grids
  • Type hierarchy allowing poetry to lead without overwhelming
03

Build

Next.js implementation

  • Image optimization pipeline preserving grain and atmosphere
  • Scroll choreography for cinematic pacing

Deliverables

What shipped

  • Full-bleed image gallery with ambient transitions
  • Typography system balancing poetry and legibility
  • Custom image loading with atmospheric blur-up
  • Commission inquiry flow with intimate tone

Key Moments

Visual highlights

  • Gallery mosaic

    Gallery mosaic

    Full-width photography grid with staggered rhythm, each image carrying location and poetic caption.

  • Poetic overlays

    Text blocks that appear like margin notes, offering fragments of the story behind each frame.

  • Commission invitation

    A tender CTA encouraging visitors to share their unfinished chapters for custom commissions.

Impact

Light Remembers feels like flipping through a visual diary. Every scroll is deliberate, every image a quiet confession.

Client voice

It's like a novel I can't stop reading. Every frame feels like it carries a story I almost remember.

Anonymous visitor

Gallery comment

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