Saaz Jain Srivastava, better known as Saaz JS, is an AI artist whose work brilliantly captures contemporary Indian urban culture and fashion editorial while pushing generative art boundaries.

India’s Hidden Gem in AI Art

While the global AI art community has celebrated creators worldwide, Indian AI artists remain under the international radar. This oversight represents a significant gap, considering India’s visual storytelling legacy and current technology leadership.

Saaz JS embodies the perfect fusion of traditional Indian artistic sensibilities with cutting-edge AI technology, creating a unique voice that deserves global recognition.

A Master of Visual Versatility

Saaz’s remarkable stylistic range sets him apart in AI-generated art. His portfolio demonstrates impressive ability to navigate dramatically different aesthetic approaches.

Some of Saaz’s work draws from vintage photography techniques, employing nostalgic imperfections of analog photography:

• Deliberate grain and blur effects that evoke disposable camera authenticity
• Intentional photographic “damage” adding emotional depth to social scenarios
• Raw, documentary-style compositions capturing genuine urban life moments

These aren’t merely aesthetic choices—they’re powerful storytelling tools authentically representing complex social dynamics among India’s youth.

In stark contrast, Saaz demonstrates versatility through his “Athena” series, showcasing:

• High-fashion editorial aesthetics with commercial-grade quality
• Sophisticated lighting and composition rivaling traditional fashion photography
• Clean, polished visual language meeting luxury brand standards

This dramatic shift proves his technical mastery and creative range across multiple commercial and artistic contexts.

The Entrepreneurial Edge

Beyond artistic talent, Saaz brings a distinctly entrepreneurial approach to his creative practice. This business acumen positions him uniquely where commercial viability and creative integrity intersect, reflecting India’s broader entrepreneurial spirit.

Cultural Bridge-Builder

Saaz’s work translates specifically Indian experiences into universally relatable visual narratives, capturing the nuanced reality of contemporary Indian youth—balancing traditional values with modern aspirations while navigating global culture.

Why This Matters

The international AI art community benefits enormously from diverse talent like Saaz JS, representing cultural diversity, technical innovation, authentic storytelling, and commercial sophistication in an often homogeneous digital landscape.

Continue reading our exclusive interview to discover the inspirations, techniques, and philosophies driving one of India’s most promising AI artists…

Can you introduce yourself?

I’m Saaz Jain Srivastava, or Saaz JS. Born and raised in India, I studied Digital Media Arts at the Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology and now work as a UX Engineer. With a background in animation, illustration, visual storytelling, consultancy and entrepreneurship.

How long have you been using generative AI?

I’m relatively new to generative AI. I’ve only been exploring it seriously for about a year. It wasn’t until conversations with my seniors, industry peers, and watching people weave worlds out of thin air that I began to appreciate its accessibility and power. Professionally, I use it about 40% of the time to test layouts, visualize ideas, reduce the ambiguity of critical design decisions, and see how products might look in real-world settings. However, this works only in parts of the process that allow the freedom to explore all possibilities. The remaining time, adoption is slower due to a sentiment of justifiable uncertainty and the challenge of negotiating for a common vision. Working with AI is almost like catching lightning in a jar ; it can illuminate your path, but if the lid isn’t secure, you might get zapped. As humans, we tend to focus more on nursing wounds than taking necessary risks. In the near future, as my practice, workflow, and abilities improve, I would love to work with brands and creatives to bring in something new and different, and see how far we can take this without losing its essence, its core, its soul. Right now, its all about having fun, exploring creative possibilities, and being intentional.

What is your biggest source of inspiration currently?

Much of my inspiration comes from conversations with people, listening to their stories, sharing anecdotes with friends, and self-reflection. Somewhere in these exchanges, my mind latches onto an idea. Over time, this idea ripens like fruit, and I let my tools become part of the dialogue. It’s a two-way process in more ways than most realize.

I draw most of my inspiration from the culture around me. There’s a whole reservoir if you just observe twenty-somethings—how they party, the music they share, the brands they obsess over, the way they juggle freedom with adult expectations. Dig a little deeper and you find contradictions, quirks, and oddities that are pure gold for ideas.

For instance, a friend once told me how her boyfriend brings his work everywhere with him—whether they’re at a bar or club, he talks only about his office and how that drives her nuts. The peculiarity of that situation and the emotion behind her words sparked my creativity as I was picturing this 20 something year old at a bar just going on and on about his reports. But that got me wondering, why am I letting this idea rot away in my mind, there is something there which needs to be shared. So using AI tools, I visualized a twenty-something guy surrounded by printers and fax machines at a nightclub. I see my generation as a living archive of walking fiction and I’m trying to document it through a medium that is generative AI.

I’ve also gained tremendous knowledge from Instagram’s vibrant, supportive artist community. Their expertise in angles, lighting, depth, and conceptual flair has significantly enhanced my own work.

Which AI tools do you use the most?

I primarily work with MidJourney, and I’m currently exploring Higgsfield, and Runway. I use my own AI generations as moodboards for each piece, focusing heavily on expressions and accuracy. For ad reels, I obsess over product details like the folds, textures, and how materials flow on models and I pay equal attention to the environment, as it sets the context and mood for each piece.

For video work, After Effects and Premiere Pro are my go-to tools, while Figma is my photoshop replacement as I use it for work. Recently, I have been using Instagram’s Edits app before uploading to align the footage, text and music together which has been really helpful.

An underrated element that ties it all together is the choice of music. This is true for both posts and reels. You can get completely different interpretations based on the songs you use and I like to showcase bands that are local and have shaped the “scene” at large. For example, Seedhe Maut the rap duo and Peter Cat Recording Co. have their own flavor which goes well with specific pieces. For my brand heavy, fast paced posts rap music, techno seems to do well, and Murakami jazz/ time machine music works well for others. There are so many local bands and artists hailing from India that shape the culture here that I hope that through my work, someone, somewhere adds them to their playlists as well.

Any advice for those who want to get started with AI art?

Although I am too new to this field to be giving advice, I can share my approach and ongoing process.

When it comes to tools, pick one and just start.

Explore every feature, experiment, and learn what each does. This is you tasting the spices that go into the final dish.

Then, educate yourself: study photography, lighting, framing, angles, colors; go behind and beyond the scenes with your favorite directors, artists, videographers, art directors, and understand how they engineer intentionality. Study how they frame their shots, how they use lenses, how they solve puzzles in their own practice, how editing brings out emotions.

As an exercise, take a single image or generation and recreate it until you can apply what you’ve learned with confidence.

Tell stories intentionally. Each prompt should shape the story in your head. It’s tempting to let the tool carry you because it looks cool, but that’s only the starting point. Push each iteration beyond its limits, persist, and if it feels indulgent, you can always refine later or go back to where you started.

Find a community. Share work, ask for feedback, be kind and observe how others approach the craft. Instagram has a supportive, insightful creator ecosystem. People like Antoine and Partfaliaz, AICC, Frmwrk, IIIL to name a few as examples, document and share artists thoughtfully. Their perspectives help me immensely.

Master the mindset. Get out of your own way, post without worrying about likes or algorithms, and create from the heart. Improvement comes when you can look at your work and stand by it, remaining cheerful, persistent, and tenacious. Expression comes first; metrics come later.

Finally, keep having fun. The more fun you have, the more it will resonate with others.

Images © Saaz JS 2025