Artist Refuses Prize After His AI Image Wins at Top Photo Contest

[Pieter]

From the winner/creator:

“MY STATEMENT 14.3.23
WHEN THE SELECTION OF MY IMAGE WAS ANNOUNCED BY SWPA
(without them communicating it was AI-generated or properly answering press inquiries)

I am very happy that I won the creative category of Sony World Photography Awards 2023 / Open Competition / Single Image.

I have been photographing since 1989, been a photomedia artist since 2000. After two decades of photography, my artistic focus has shifted to exploring the creative possibilities of AI generators.

The work SWPA has chosen is the result of a complex interplay of prompt engineering, inpainting and outpainting that draws on my wealth of photographic knowledge. For me, working with AI image generators is a co-creation, in which I am the director. It is not about pressing a button – and done it is. It is about exploring the complexity of this process, starting with refining text prompts, then developing a complex workflow, and mixing various platforms and techniques. The more you create such a workflow and define parameters, the higher your creative part becomes.

I have been the first in Germany to teach this as a craft in open online workshops: www.promptwhispering.ai

I call my images “images”. They are synthetically produced, using “the photographic” as a visual language. They are not “photographs”.

Participating in open calls, I want to speed up the process of the Award organisers to become aware of this difference and create separate competitions for AI-generated images.

Doing public talks and being a consultant for universities, magazines, agencies, festivals, museums, and organisations, I see my role as a practitioner of knowledge transfer. As the ‘Head of Digital’ of Deutsche Fotografische Akademie, I am a member of the AI work group of Deutscher Fotorat, in which the German photo associations discuss the chances and risks of this disruptive technology at large.” – Boris Eldagsen



“MY STATEMENT 13.4.23
REFUSAL OF THE PRIZE of the Sony World Photography Awards, Open Competition / Creative Category at the London Award ceremony:

Thank you for selecting my image and making this a historic moment, as it is the first AI generated image to win in a prestigous international PHOTOGRAPHY competition.

How many of you knew or suspected that it was AI generated? Something about this doesn’t feel right, does it?

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 applied as a cheeky monkey, to find out, if the comeptitions are prepared for AI images to enter. They are not.

We, the photo world, need an open discussion. A discussion about what we want to consider photography and what not. Is the umbrella of photography large enough to invite AI images to enter – or would this be a mistake?

With my refusal of the award I hope to speed up this debate.

Having been a photographer for 30 years before I turned to AI, I understand the pros and cons of this debate and will be happy to join the conversation.

If you dont know what to do with the prize, please donate it to the fotofestival in Odesa, Ukraine. I will happily provide you the contacts.

Many thanks” – Boris Eldagsen

[jnantz]

The exception that proves the rule.

not really
http://www.photographyhistoryfacts.c...omas-wedgwood/
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/anna-...otographs.html

[Alan Klein]

What rule?

Just an expression. Most photographers use cameras. I never met any who didn't.

[Pieter]

Just an expression. Most photographers use cameras. I never met any who didn't.

Broaden your horizons. Art photography covers a wide range of techniques and combinations of techniques. You could try visiting some galleries (or their websites) that represent the current state of photography.

[Alan Klein]

Broaden your horizons. Art photography covers a wide range of techniques and combinations of techniques. You could try visiting some galleries (or their websites) that represent the current state of photography.

What is art photography?

[Peter Lewin]

Just an expression. Most photographers use cameras. I never met any who didn't.

Alan, here's one: Maggie Taylor, the wife of Jerry Uelsmann. Where Uelsmann was famous for creating his photographic collages from images he photographed and then combined on multiple enlargers, Maggie makes her collages on a computer screen using lots of imagery beyond photographs: https://www.westongallery.com/origin.../maggie-taylor
You will notice that her work is sold by photography galleries.

[Pieter]

What is art photography?

Don’t start.

[r_a_feldman]

I, personally, have never referred to any form of digital image as a “photograph”. I began calling them “digital images” around 1980, when we first used LANDSAT images in our archaeological research. The USGS, which sold the LANDSAT images, referred to them that way, so I just adopted their terminology, calling them “satellite images”. When digital cameras became available, I just continued using “digital images” for the products of those cameras. I think it is a useful distinction and relatively non-judgemental. Thus, the new computer AI-generated images are, to me, “computer generated digital images.”

[Peter Lewin]

Here's an interview with an artist who uses AI to initiate her images and calls her work "synthography." https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023...llel-universe/
Of special note is that she doesn't just type in some phrases and calls it quits. She starts with the image generated by AI and then modifies it to get the image she wants. No, it's not photography, and she's honest about that, but it's still creating something unique and, at least partially, human-made.

I've joined this discussion late, but I think Drew's comment is extremely apt. I remember when digital replaced film, and Photoshop came into existence. There was the same questioning whether photography was now dead, since it was hard to determine whether an image was "true." But we have come to accept Photoshopped images as a form of graphic art, and it exists alongside "straight" photography. Some like to hang Photoshopped work on their walls, while others (I suspect many of us) prefer to hang silver gelatin or platinum prints on their walls. Similar, AI images will probably always require some human input or editing, and will come to sit side-by-side with "straight" photography and Photoshopped imagery. Some people will hang AI images on their walls. I am sure that the means of producing "art" will continue to expand.

[Pieter]

I've joined this discussion late, but I think Drew's comment is extremely apt. I remember when digital replaced film, and Photoshop came into existence. There was the same questioning whether photography was now dead, since it was hard to determine whether an image was "true." But we have come to accept Photoshopped images as a form of graphic art, and it exists alongside "straight" photography. Some like to hang Photoshopped work on their walls, while others (I suspect many of us) prefer to hang silver gelatin or platinum prints on their walls. Similar, AI images will probably always require some human input or editing, and will come to sit side-by-side with "straight" photography and Photoshopped imagery. Some people will hang AI images on their walls. I am sure that the means of producing "art" will continue to expand.

Just for the record, Photoshop preceded commercial digital cameras by two years