Kori’s bio
Born and raised in Beijing and now based in New York, Kori He is a fashion photographer whose work explores the delicate tension between presence and absence, where intimacy and emotional distance quietly coexist.
Kori began her career in film and television. She earned an MS in Television and Film Production Management from the University of Southern California before working as a TV Producer at iQIYI, one of Asia's leading streaming platforms. After several years in the entertainment industry, she moved to London to pursue fashion photography full-time, where she developed her visual language through freelance editorial work. This journey eventually brought her to New York, where she earned a second master's degree in Fashion Photography from the School of Visual Arts, receiving the Paula Rhodes Memorial Award for Exceptional Achievement in Fashion Photography in 2026.
Influenced by her background in filmmaking, Kori approaches fashion photography through a cinematic yet intimate lens. She uses fashion as a language to explore emotional distance, confined spaces, and the fragile relationship between the subject and their environment, creating images that balance narrative with quiet observation.
Her work has been published in Photo Vogue, NASTY Magazine, C41 Magazine, FLANELLE Magazine, SICKY Magazine, MOB Journal, Selin Magazine, Cake Magazine, and many other international publications, including magazine covers and artist interviews. In 2025, she received an Honorable Mention at the International Photography Awards (IPA).
Artist Statement
I am obsessed with those fleeting, in-between moments charged with emotion.
Fashion, to me, is a language for intimate and fragile stories. I create images that feel genuine,
spontaneous, and slightly broken. My work explores the tension that lives inside unguarded
moments, marked by raw textures, visual instability, and a diary-like closeness.
My sensitivity to these passing moments is shaped by Nan Goldin’s documentary practice. Her
belief that the camera records what is forever lost has influenced my understanding of
photography as an emotional archive. I am also inspired by Corinne Day’s raw, unfiltered
imagery and Lukasz Wierzbowski’s exploration of how the body occupies and responds to space.
I create “fashion-adjacent” images and value emotional tension over polished beauty. In my
work, fashion does not dominate the frame but exists as part of the subject’s identity within the
narrative. Natural light, direct flash, and faded color palettes form my visual language, allowing
me to create images that feel intimate, subtly unsettled, and emotionally exposed.