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A renowned documentary photographer (e.g. worked for Magnum) I've greatly respected recently announced a NFT project consisting of AI-generated photos on the to

by danso 4y ago

A renowned documentary photographer (e.g. worked for Magnum) I've greatly respected recently announced a NFT project consisting of AI-generated photos on the topic of Cuban refugees [0] > IMAGERY IS NOT REAL > 90 Miles is a post-photography AI reporting illustration experiment exploring historical events and realities of Cuban life that have, since 1961, motivated Cubans to cross the 90 miles of ocean separating Havana from Florida. > For over 25 years, I kept a list of subjects to document but was unable to, mainly due to access or that access was impossible. While working in Cuba from 2014-2016, more subjects were added to the list with the assumption they would likely never be created... > ...The Cubans who attempt the crossing are incredibly resourceful, as necessary to the journey and as reflected in rafts often assembled from inner tubes, pieces of wood and plastic, household supplies, etc. Of all the AI-art controversies so far, this one really rankled me. This guy has had an immensely successful career in documentary photography, he's gained fame and prestige based on the veneer of truth and reality that journalism confers to his line of work. And now he's going to torch the integrity of the profession for some NFT profit? Ironically, he's done a bunch of work documenting Cuban life. So the photos he generates will probably bear some resemblance to reality he's observed. But why not amplify the work of young/undiscovered photographers who do have the chance to document the plight of refugees? Just shocked at how little he cares about trivializing refugees and future aspiring documentarians. [0] https://www.instagram.com/p/CqniSVjrj0h/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/p/CqniSVjrj0h/?hl=en

WastingMyTime89 4y ago
> And now he's going to torch the integrity of the profession for some NFT profit? I think you are missing the point. There is no "integrity" in photography outside of the photographer one. Images are and always have been fabrication. Choice of subject, framing, setting, careful curation, the photo is a medium of expression which is not that different from writing something. The message Christopher Brown is conveying is very clear. It’s not that meaningfully different to create the point of view he wants to share using machines or using a camera.
- danso 4y ago
  > the photo is a medium of expression which is not that different from writing something. Yes, of course photography is an expression for the reasons you mention. When I see a documentary photograph, I know it's not the "whole picture" but just a moment lasting 1/200s and maybe 1 out of 500 photos that a photographer picked out. But I do assume that the moment I'm seeing did actually exist from that perspective, and that there are real limits to how the photographer can control the image. That claim to reality is all that documentary photography has to elevate it from artistic and illustrative photography. Here's an example (from the NFT AI Cuban project) of what gets lost when we treat realistic AI-generations on the same epistemic level of a traditional documentary photo https://twitter.com/SaabGT750/status/1643651637033017345 https://twitter.com/SaabGT750/status/1643651637033017345 Knowing that this photo is AI generated, what are we supposed to make from it? Of course the human pictured doesn't exist, but does this helmet actually exist as part of the Cuban refugee life, or is it purely an artifact of the AI's hallucination? Documentary work has been great at showing how fact is stranger than fiction — e.g. how during in war, people can have moments of laughter and goofiness. Treating AI photos and documentary work on equal footing ultimately erodes our understanding of how expansive and weird reality can be.
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by danso 4y ago

WastingMyTime89 4y ago

> And now he's going to torch the integrity of the profession for some NFT profit? I think you are missing the point. There is no "integrity" in photography outside of the photographer one. Images are and always have been fabrication. Choice of subject, framing, setting, careful curation, the photo is a medium of expression which is not that different from writing something. The message Christopher Brown is conveying is very clear. It’s not that meaningfully different to create the point of view he wants to share using machines or using a camera.

danso 4y ago
> the photo is a medium of expression which is not that different from writing something. Yes, of course photography is an expression for the reasons you mention. When I see a documentary photograph, I know it's not the "whole picture" but just a moment lasting 1/200s and maybe 1 out of 500 photos that a photographer picked out. But I do assume that the moment I'm seeing did actually exist from that perspective, and that there are real limits to how the photographer can control the image. That claim to reality is all that documentary photography has to elevate it from artistic and illustrative photography. Here's an example (from the NFT AI Cuban project) of what gets lost when we treat realistic AI-generations on the same epistemic level of a traditional documentary photo https://twitter.com/SaabGT750/status/1643651637033017345 https://twitter.com/SaabGT750/status/1643651637033017345 Knowing that this photo is AI generated, what are we supposed to make from it? Of course the human pictured doesn't exist, but does this helmet actually exist as part of the Cuban refugee life, or is it purely an artifact of the AI's hallucination? Documentary work has been great at showing how fact is stranger than fiction — e.g. how during in war, people can have moments of laughter and goofiness. Treating AI photos and documentary work on equal footing ultimately erodes our understanding of how expansive and weird reality can be.
- deleted 4y ago
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