Three months ago, I began experimenting with AI –artificial intelligence – as it applies to image making. I posted three AI images in late January and said that I’d post more when I became proficient at this new kind of art form. I have now produced over 600 AI images, and I feel comfortable discussing AI with all its ramifications. Many people fear it, some hate it (like my wife: "You're a photographer, not an AI make," she says), but many others are intrigued and curious. I love it because I can create anything my mind can imagine – from an adorable little girl hugging a puppy to monsters and everything in between. I’ll post some images over the next week or so that I think you’ll find compelling at the very least. This is not photography, but having a photographic background is useful because it steers you along a strongly visual path. Both AI and cameras make images; the process and the capabilities, though, are different.
The online software I use is Midjourney. For this image, the ‘prompts’ I chose (i.e. the word commands) were: “Black leopard surrounded by jungle and reflecting in water, telephoto lens with shallow depth of field, f/5.6, diffused light, photo realistic, hyper detail, super sharp.” AI is not quite perfect yet in terms of making images look like real photographs, but I’m sure in the coming year or so it will be.
2 Comments
Apr 25, 2023, 11:24:50 AM
Jim - Thanks for your thoughts, Frederic. Many photographers feel as you do. I just love making images, no matter how I get there. Jim
Apr 25, 2023, 10:45:26 AM
Frederic Hore - When this photo come up in my email (I am subscribed to your newsletters), I went wow, Jim has done it again! But then when I looked closer and read the text accompanying this amazing image, it was then that I saw it was a total fabrication. I have always admired your work Jim, you are a true visual artist and great photographer, and this image is no exception. However, I agree with your wife, that this mixing of computer-generated imagery with your exceptional real photography work, might sully your reputation, and in the process destroy the veracity of your images and photography itself. I guess I am a purist in that way. I don't do sky replacements, which seem to have become quite popular, and instead run by the philosophy of getting it right in the camera at the time of capture. Sure, we can use polarisers and ND filters to enhance an image, and modern tools like HDR to get the image closer to how we see or perceive the sight in front of us, but once we step beyond image manipulation and go towards AI, where is the veracity of the image, what is real and what is fake? If this was meant to be a wake-up call to fellow photographers and to "stir the pot" as the saying goes, then I'm sure this will spark a lot more conversations about whether AI is to be welcomed, or feared - and the implications for photography. As always, thank you for your stimulating imagery! Cheers, Frederic in Montréal.