My friend Stephen Dixon posted on FB a link to images taken by two brothers, Jordi and Arnau Puig. Here’s a link to their website, but for brevity’s sake I’ve copied a couple below.
Creative, indeed.
I wrote to Stephen:
You posted the sequence of images that was brilliantly composed by genius photographers using swinging lights, time exposures, mirrors with water, etc. Impressive, but I hate it. My interest and fundamental appreciation of photography is is the ways that truth is revealed through the camera. Look at these.
He wrote, “Oh, I like classic photography. At one point in my life I dabbled a bit in it, and was fascinated. I have numerous books that are collections of photographs on one subject or another. But I appreciate creative artistry in almost all its forms. Think how painters and portraitists sniffed at photography as not being ‘a real art’ when cameras were first invented. For quite a long time, actually. Or the film vs digital divide. I am not one given to orthodoxy. I am too fascinated by creativity and invention.”
I wrote, “I didn't say that very well. I belong to several FB photo groups. In "world class landscapes" there are too many composites, too much Photoshop, too much AI, all aimed to make something that was beautiful in and of itself otherworldly spectacular. It's boring, and what I'm seeing is that too much of the computer generated imagery is pushing more traditional imagery aside. (I tried to find the cartoon where Lucy pushing a TV overruns Linus who is reading a book. No luck). I appreciate the creativity. I have no interest in learning how to do those things. For me the joy is in the process of unearthing or discovering. I went to SF last week to see Ansel Adams' 100 photographs. He never set out to "make a photograph." He found them.”
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I'm going to put one up now from Tanzania.
Yesterday at 4:35 PM
Sun 4:35 PM
Stephen
I understand your commitment to purity. But we have to be careful to not be too orthodox. Young men should not have been discouraged from playing Rock and Roll on the electric guitar because of the purity and complexity of Classical music.
Stephen
You know I love your work. I have commented on it often enough. Not every one, because then the praise becomes mundane. But everything you have selected to post is special. And I can’t imagine the work and the artistry it takes to freeze a bird in mid flight.
Yesterday at 5:14 PM
Sun 5:14 PM
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Thank you for the kind words. My attitude, grounded in tradition, is simply a preference. Jadyne has often remarked, “You’re always looking.” And yes, I am. The pleasure of finding is what it’s all about for me. One of my son’s friends was married last Saturday. I was not the “official photographer”, but I had a little travel camera. I’m going to attach a jpeg after this post that I took of the bride at the reception, holding a glass of champagne. A candid, that’s all.
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We can continue this at the Cincinnati Country Club. I'm looking forward to seeing you.
Stephen
Oh my! That’s like a painting by one of the French geniuses. They are going to love that. They are going to be inundated with regular wedding photos. When they get back from their honeymoon, you all should show it to the groom only. If he puts that on canvas, or something like that, and gives it to her on their first anniversary, she will feel like a bride all over again.
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Again, thank you...I'm always looking...
Today at 5:09 AM
5:09 AM
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Sony World Photography Award 2023: Winner refuses award after revealing AI creation — BBC News
Today at 6:27 AM
6:27 AM
Stephen
I couldn’t open that without downloading some new app. WTF? My iPad must be many generations out of date.
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In short. The guy took first place in the Sony World Photography Contest with an image that he created entirely from artificial intelligence. He refused the award, confessing that he just wanted to “test the waters” and bring up the discussion about the intrusiveness of “new photography” in pushing aside what has been traditional. The judges couldn’t tell the difference.
Stephen
Well that’s troubling. Autotune for photographers. Time for the tech heads to come up with a way to spot the tweaked ones. Why can’t contests insist on a negative? But, oh yeah, many, if not most, are probably shooting digitally now, aren’t they?
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Yes, we all shoot RAW files. I don’t know if they can be modified. If not, that would be one possible answer.
Stephen
If there was a way to identify and cull for anything but cropping, that would be fair, wouldn’t it?
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There are changes in contrast, color balance, lightening and darkening that have been a part of photography since the camera was created. The original negative of Adams’ “Moonlight, Hernandez, New Mexico” went through many changes before the final print was created. The genius was in the visualization, that what he saw with his own eyes could be transformed into what he saw in his mind’s eye. We’re not out to simply record what we see, but how what we see can be turned into something that we can visualize. Besides, every camera and every sensor, every film camera, every film, all reduce a three-dimensional world into two, arresting motion along the way. From the get-go we’re translating, modifying, changing. I accept some changes, reject others. When you have a totally AI created image passing as a photograph you’re in treacherous water. Am going to the gym. Would love to continue.
Write to Stephen Dixon