A special exhibition of photos of novelist Ogai Mori (1862-1922), commemorating the 160th anniversary of his birth and the centenary of his death, is currently being held at the Mori Ogai Memorial Museum in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo.
The title of the exhibition, "Shashin no Naka no Ogai: Jinsei o Kizamu Kao," roughly translates, "Ogai in photos: Life engraved on his face." About 90 photographs of Mori from his young days to his later years shed light on his personal development. Notable among the exhibits are seven photos of Mori colorized by artificial intelligence, in which his face seems to almost pop out like a 3D picture. The colorized photos show a different side of the man known for a stern mien in other portrait photos.
The seven photos feature Mori and his family at their home in Sendagi, Tokyo. The AI made assumptions about the colors of the backgrounds and clothing based on data about the time and suggested a selection of colors, from which a human decision-maker chose the most suitable ones. One of the photos appeared in the magazine Nikoniko, which ran a special feature on smiles of celebrities. The photo is titled "Aiba to Ogai" (Pet horse and Ogai), and shows Mori smiling faintly, with the corners of his lips lifted slightly. The colors have made the smile clearer.
