IMAGE CREATED IN BING IMAGE CREATOR (DALL-E) - 2023
IMAGE CREATED IN BING IMAGE CREATOR (DALL-E) - 2023
The "images" you see above were created by me, or should I say, created by Bing Image Creator (DALL-E) and a few Lightroom tweaks, using the following prompt:
“photorealistic street photograph in the style of Ernst Haas, whole body/human shot through a window, including window reflection, melancholic, close-up, harsh sunlight, shot on mirrorless camera”
even though the prompt was not exactly matched, the results are pretty impressive. I am sure that I could start a new Instagram account, uploading these kinds of images daily, and that it would outperform my main channels within a few weeks. It took me about three minutes to come up with the prompt.
Just a few months ago, Berlin-based photographer and visual artist Boris Eldagsen won a Sony Photography Award with an image created by/with DALL-E. However, he declined the award and issued the following statement:
“AI images and photography should not compete with each other in an award like this. They are different entities. AI is not photography. Therefore I will not accept the award.”
I COULDN'T AGREE MORE. WHILE THIS TECHNOLOGY IS both IMPRESSIVE AND SCARY, IT is ONE THING as well WHEN USING IT LIKE BORIS OR I DID: LAZY AND WITHOUT AMBITION. On the other hand, I am sure that great artists will emerge who use these tools to create breathtaking work. and also bORIS' "image" CAN BE INTERPRETED AS (great) ART GIVEN THE CONTEXT and implied message I just mentioned.
Different tools require different approaches. and the vision defines the result - whatever the medium is.
In the past, I experimented with mixed media and Photoshop as well:
mixed media: analogue photograph + acrylic painting + PICSART / rescanned - 2022
mixed media: analogue photograph + acrylic painting + photoshop / rescanned - 2022
It's important to understand that most people don't appreciate art the way artists and creators do. Whether they listen to an album on their phone speakers, watch the latest blockbuster on their tablet, or view your photographs while scrolling on Instagram – and that's okay. However, it also means that most people do not care whether an image on Instagram was the result of years of training or a three-minute prompt.
we, as artists, have a responsibility: If we want our work to be appreciated the way it's intended, we need to print, host concerts, organise public events, bring our work to the real world, be less dependent on social media. or maybe host a website? (😶) - No algorithm will replace that anytime soon.
One thing is certain:
these tools and technologies are here to stay. We need to learn to embrace them as a different way of creating, AND on the same time highlight the importance of candid and honest art and photography. We should support fellow photographers and boycott AI-generated images that are labeled as something they are not. both can coexist as different categories.
but please, just don't call it photography.
