Who Moved My Pyramid?
Technology strikes again
The Pyramids of Giza have been temporarily moved. The evidence was clearly on the cover of National Geographic in February 1982. The original photograph taken by Gordon Gahan is on the left, and the adjusted cover is on the right.
Although Photoshop was brought to market in 1987, Scitex had the capacity to move mountains (or at least, pyramids).
When I attended a forum at the Eye Gallery in San Francisco soon after Photoshop was becoming a thing, there was a near Photo Weenie (nerdy photo vest-wearing) riot from the flanks and rear. There was outrage, indignation, and plenty of white wine to fuel this crowd. People wanted a watermark or something to indicate that technology had altered a photograph. The NatGeo cover was the primary example of the photography of the Devil.
They had a point and still do.
In the former era of “seeing is believing,” we trusted news publications to present the truth if the context was reporting, journalism, and news. This was true in text and images.
We know now that we can’t believe a thing. Images have been doctored for years, and with the evolution of image manipulation in the form of Deep Fakes and AI, we are traveling in a sea of uncertainty.
With this in mind, I was happy to see SVA’s MFA department originate a symposium on the matter of AI and how it will alter/affect the practice of education and the artist.
I hope they have this recorded and available online. It was enriching, weird and troubling!
Like any new tool, we creatives love to noodle around and use the capabilities of new technologies to test out their limits and then go ahead and use them for anything other than what was initially intended (think smooshing your face against a photocopy machine).
If you are one of those early adopters, you’ve probably already dived into MidJourney are Dalle-2. If you haven’t, I invite you to.
It’s a tool. It’s an idea generator. It’s a cheat. It’s unethical. It’s unfair. It’s a sketchpad.
Whatever you think it is, it is. Like it or not, it’s here and getting bigger and better.
Photography is moved forward by so many things, but the one constant mover is technology. Think of how many processes there are for us to use. We might still be coating our 20 x 24-inch sheets of wet plate glass or be limited to contact printing. And I know some of you still do, and that’s beautiful.
AI gives us another choice, another tool. But we still are the driver of this car and the decision maker. You have a history like no other that informs your image-making. AI has only a collective memory made up of superficial image shells.
Just like the iPhone made everyone a photographer, AI will make everyone an artist.
Or so they may think.
Classes & Notes
I will offer my once-a-year webinar, How to Choose Yourself as an Artist, online at the Los Angeles Center of Photography this Saturday at 1:00 PM EST. This class will be recorded for those who cannot join in real-time.
Deadline: Saturday, March 25th | lacphoto.org
Michael Foley opened his gallery in the fall of 2004 after fourteen years of working with notable photography galleries, including the Fraenkel Gallery, Howard Greenberg Gallery, and Yancey Richardson Gallery.
In 2002, Foley continued his interest in educating and working with artists by serving on the School of Visual Arts and International Center of Photography faculty. He teaches and lectures on contemporary photography issues at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
In 2020, he founded The Photo Community, which offers classes and commentary on contemporary photography.
Foley lives and works on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with his wife, Maya, and son, Jack.
Hi Martha! Fortunately, there was a big chunk of discussion on the ethical, legal and social implications of what has gone on and how we account for this going forward. I do think it's troublesome. The images we make and make available online seem to be no longer ours...at least the bits and pieces. At the symposium, the extraordinary keynote speaker, Hito Steyerl, was asked what we can do now to protect ourselves and our images. Her simple reply was, "It's too late."
That's a good read, Jeffrey. Thanks for sharing this. Yes, the standards are tight in that department and thankfully so. It's the not so journalistic publications online that I worry about.