Photography was created in 1822 when the first photograph was taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (pronounced “nyeps”). Photography was and still is seen as an art form as it is seen as drawing with light. Photography can be seen as an illusion as from the early days of photography in a dark room photographs have been manipulated to make them appealing or interesting, there has always been an idea that photography is theatrical as there has always been the element of people striking poses at the camera and the photographer zooming in and focusing on one thing and eliminating the other elements out of the photograph where for nearly all photographs have been manipulated, now a days we have technology which enables us to edit and manipulate our photographs even move editing things out, editing things in changes the photo and the dynamics completely which can make people question if there is an actual photograph which is true and doesn’t hide anything. Technology has developed so much in recent years there are generated images now which means people don’t even need to go out and take their own photos they are able to use apps and websites which have a code to create your images the benefits of artificial intelligence is that it can be a new form of creating art and photographs but on the other hand there can be some things of it which poses as a threat like the unrealistic ways it can pose ideologies around society and tings in general due to people seeing unrealistic things so often they won’t be able to tell what is ‘normal’ and what is real. Geoffrey Hinton resigned from his job at google as he was threatened by the power of ai as it could and does more harm than good. Photography can be seen as an illusion as all photos have been thought of each photographer has focuses on a main focal point for a reason on how they have envisioned the outcome of the image on the process of taking it and with modern technology things are edited in diverse ways to make it more appealing to the audience. 

Before the digital age of photography images were edited by manipulation which many people describe this is when photography lost its innocence, before the digital age images were edited by using dark room techniques which consisted of methods and techniques that involve manipulation directly to the print, such as retouching with ink, paint, airbrushing, or scratching Polaroids during developing (Polaroid art). Negatives can be manipulated while still in the camera using double-exposure techniques, or in the darkroom by piecing photos or negatives together. Some darkroom manipulations involved techniques such as bleaching to artfully lighten or totally wash out parts of the photograph, hand colouring for aesthetic purposes, or mimicking a fine art painting. 

The valley of the shadow of death is a photograph which is known for being manipulated in the early days of photography, it was considered the first “fake” photograph as the image content had been manipulated with the aim of conveying a different reality as to that which took place there photograph was taken by British photographer Roger Fenton in 1855 it was seen as the oldest photographs of warfare if it wasn’t manipulated. The photograph shows a desolate scene littered with cannonballs, some populating a ditch and some scattered along a stretch of road. The fact that this image was manipulated annoyed many people as it made people question the authenticity of photography and historical photos as they no longer trusted them as they did not know if they were real or not. In my opinion I believe that the image is really clearly done and it gives the audience a sense of what warfare was like but on the other hand I think it is wrong of the photographer to not have told anyone that it was a manipulated image and it was how he thought it would look like as he provided misleading information which has left people questioning not only photography and the truths about what a photo is but also history and if historians got this wrong and believed that it wasn’t a manipulated photo what does it say about other historical photographs.  

Since the digital age it has become easier to manipulate photos as technology has evolved so much that it is easy to edit photos quickly and make it look professional. It is easy to edit the truth as the editing process is so easy and so good that it makes it look real so people don’t know the truth and are constantly being shown fake things, photo manipulation changes the truth as you are able to make things smaller, larger, change the shape the list of things go on and on. Ai, has evolved in the fact that you now no longer have to take end edit photos to remove background to place them on a new image, the ai does it all for you and finds images by you just adding prompts to it, Dream Studio creates images for you give the website prompts on what you want in the image and then it creates it giving you multiple different options of the images. 

In my opinion a photograph can lie, and photographs have been lying for years from being edited in a dark room from now being able to edit them with a click of a button. These two photographs are great examples of photographs lying from looking at them without knowing the back story a person would believe that it is a fact of perfect timing and being in the right place at the right time is what captured these two amazing photos however it wasn’t the photo of the train was actually staged the photographer made the train reverse and stop multiple times to get the positioning of the building and the train perfect which in my opinion make the photo lie to the audience as to many people photography is about capturing the moment and the fact this photo may seem like it is capturing the moment is in fact now as it was staged. The second photo is in fact also staged the photographer created the whole photo he placed the cardboard photos and the shoes perfectly in place to create this shot of a ”homeless” person when in fact it wasn’t a homeless person everything was stages to audiences not knowing if a photo was staged or not this has a massive effect on history and historic photographs as how are we meant to know if these photos were staged or not when we can no longer find out from the person who created them. In my opinion I believe that ai is having a big effect on photography and the industry in many ways it is negatively impacting in in the sense it does not tell the truth gives people wrong impressions and does more harm than good however when ai is used as an art medium to create an interpretation of something with it being obvious are isn’t used in a harmful way I think it is a genius way to create art. In conclusion I believe that the future of photography could be in danger due to how fast technology is developing and changing and I believe that this will affect is as people may never know the truth about a photograph and what is it if it is all a lie. 

1254 words

QUOTES:

‘The process of manipulation starts as soon as we frame a person, a landscape, an object or a scene with our cameras’

‘What are the differences between reality and witness and points of view?’

‘And what does a real photograph look like/Is it something you can see on a screen and alter?’

ESSAY:

Hypothesis: Photography and Truth: Can a photograph lie?

‘What are the differences between reality and witness and points of view?’ Susan Bright in her article ‘Is it Real?’ comments on the accuracy and truth in photography, and how it can be altered because after all isn’t a photograph proof in itself?

Louis Dagueterre was a French painter and physicist who invented the first practical process of photography, known as the daguerreotype. The daguerreotype is a direct-positive process, creating a highly detailed image on a sheet of copper plate with a thin coat of silver without the use of a negative. The invention of the daguerreotype posed as a threat to traditional artforms such as painting and drawing, considering it was the first widely used photography process. Furthermore this process was the first ever successfully refined process that created an exact replica of an image reflected into a camera, in which painters had less domination in the work of portraits. As photography has evolved so has technology, as cameras have evolved and the process of developing image is slowly becoming non-existent as now we are able to see the images immediately after they are taken, without having to process them through a darkroom. Technology has severely advanced in such way that artificial intelligence, also known as AI, is able to generate images with a prompt and create life-like images. AI has become has become a significant part in everyday life, and the benefits it has created for the human population, it has become a device humankind are relying on such as google, voice recognition, and generative AI however have we really thought about the consequences and the danger AI has presented us with? AI becomes more intelligent with every resource it collects which become a danger to humanity with what AI will be able to accomplish in the future.

It is assumed that photography before the digital age could not be manipulated however by using different chemicals in the developing process you would be able to alter the image. An example in how photographers would alter an image by the process of Pictorialism. Pictorialism is an international aesthetic movement that characterised photography between 1890 and 1914 approximately, various techniques were used to produce these images: important manipulations in the darkroom, special filters (including soft-focus), unusual treatments during development, use of special papers. My historical case study, being ‘Robert Capa, Death of a Loyalist Soldier; does not concern manipulation specifically within the image, although its circumstances are certainly hard to untangle. Allegedly this image was taken in 1936 on the battlefields of the Spanish Civil War, in which it is presenting a man dramatically falling to his death. Presumedly it is said he suffered with a fatal gunshot wound, however no wound is visible in the photograph. For years, research was done into the casualty records from September 5th, at the Battle of Cerro Muriano, in hopes of obtaining details about the man allegedly dying in the image. However, it later discovered that Capa’s image was staged and did not in fact capture the moment of death. ‘The creation of an image can shift fluently from a performative or theatrical act’ this quote by Max Pinckers successfully supports the idea that photography can be staged through a ‘theatrical act.’ Capa’s image supports Pinckers statement as he staged his photograph and made it look like a man had suffered a fatal gunshot wound. By creating this fantasy people had indulged in his performance believing that the man had died however many years later we discovered it was a performance created by Capa which leads to the ultimate question are all photographs a lie? and can they be trusted?

‘You’re going to have truth, and you’re going to have reality, and reality’s going to be a mixture of truth, hallucinations.’ Photography is a way for artists to express themselves, therefore there is no right or wrong. AI has become a way to create extraordinary images that would not be able to be replicated in the real world. My case study ‘Philip Toledano > Trump as a poor man’ shows a different perception of reality, if Trump hadn’t had a gilded life of privilege handed to him what would he look like? Digitally you are able to alter the image through using image manipulation software, such as Photoshop. There are also AI softwares that have been created to produce images that look ‘real’, but are in fact a digital construct, these are constructed by artificial intelligence. Softwares like this include; DreamStudio, Midjourney or DALL E 2, these softwares would create images like the case study by Toledano. The systems generate images by prompts and information they are able to gather from the internet.

In conclusion, I think that both images portray the importance of context and external factors in viewing photography, yet they also differ in their methods of concealment of the truth ‘the process of manipulation starts as soon as we frame a person, a landscape, an object or a scene with our cameras.’ Therefore ultimately photography is not a lie yet is not complete truth.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Bright, Susan (2019) Is it Real? in Photography Decoded. London: Octopus Publishing Group Ltd

Max Pinckers Interview: On Speculative Documentary

Williams, Zoe (18 April, 2023), ‘AI isn’t a threat’ – Boris Eldagsen, whose fake photo duped the Sony judges, hits back. The Guardian News & Media Ltd. (accessed 19 June 2023)

Pictorialism: https://aestheticsofphotography.com/pictorialism/#Principles_of_Pictorialism

From my images of St. Malo I made a zine.

Saint-Malo is a port city in Brittany, in France’s northwest. Surrounded by tall granite walls surround the old town, which was once a stronghold for privateers (pirates approved by the king). In the centre of the town is the Saint-Malo Cathedral which is built in Romanesque and Gothic styles and features stained-glass windows depicting the city’s history.

Unedited images:

Edited images:

Mood board:

Using Photoshop Beta:

Experimentation:

Editing St Malo Images:

Image 1:

Using generative fill:

I have experimented using AI in Photoshop Beta, starting with using one of Will Lukeman’s photos and adding natural scenes to create a supernatural scene.

I began by using Neural Filters to create a basic edit and get the jungle look.

I then used generative fill to add the larger subjects; birds, dinosaur etc.

Original Image

Process

Final outcome

I created a few more images using AI with the same techniques after my first trail with Lukeman’s photo, but I used my own photos for the rest.

Generative Fill

I used generative fill to extend my imager. I first extended the back layer using the crop tool. I then selected the image and inverted the selection. I then clicked generative fill.

Final outcomes

However, the AI doesn’t always create an image that works. I attempted to get an extension for this image multiple times but it wasn’t able to create one.

For two days I took on a role at the Jersey Evening Post working with the photographer David Ferguson to produce images suited to the news story and fit for the paper and website.

For example, Island music had new ownership so i photographed Paul Sharkey, the new owner, around his shop.

These images can be found in Connect magazine

Here are some other images i took:

I also helped David take pictures of a local chocolatier however due to confined space we had to work around getting the angles right which posed as a challenge. This meant we couldn’t fit some of the equipment in the space so had to improvise without a tripod and other helpful equipment that would’ve made the process easier.

I also photographed the teacher strikes that took place in Jersey’s town square. This included images of the crowd that were striking with their banners and signs, speakers and the politicians. Although this task was interesting it wasn’t easy, the large crowds made it difficult to find a good position for shooting whilst also staying out of the way of the film crew. This meant I had to strategically position myself in order to get any worthwhile shots.

After the strike had finished we went back to the JEP office and i selected and made some small adjustments to the images. Once happy with the outcomes they were sent to another department and formatted into the newspaper as seen below:

I also shot a few images for a hidden identity messaging someone to buy drugs for a news article they were writing.

Overall, I found this experience really interesting and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to work alongside some of these talented people as I was able to learn a lot from them and see first hand how photography can be used as a job/career.

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer who was seen as the ‘father of journalism’ and candid photography. Taking interest in recording human activity, he photographed the ‘everyday’ moments. Examining his influential publications, The Decisive Moment is seen as one of the most major photobooks of the twentieth century. Robert Capa described it as “a Bible for photographers.”. The book was not originally called The Decisive Moment, but was named Images à la Sauvette (“images on the run”). Little did Bresson know that this would latter become his motto, defining his popular work.

Henri was born in Chanteloup-en-Brie, Seine-et-Marne, and built up a great fascination with painting in the style of Surrealism. He discovered the Leica after spending a year in the Ivy Coast in 1932. The Lecia became his most frequently used camera, and influenced him to start his life-long career photography. His first ever exhibition was at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York in 1933. After , in 1940, he was taken as a prisoner of war but managed to escape on his third attempt three years later. He then joined an underground organisation to help prisoners and other escapes. He filmed the documentary Le Retour (The Return) after he photographed Paris’ liberation in 1945.

He travelled in the East for three years, however in 1952 he returned to Europe and published his first book The Decisive Moment. He stated “For me the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant which, in visual terms, questions and decides simultaneously. In order to ‘give a meaning’ to the world, one has to feel involved in what one frames through the viewfinder. This attitude requires concentration, discipline of mind, sensitivity, and a sense of geometry. It is by economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression.”

He created the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris with his wife and daughter to preserve his work, which he won multiple awards for. He later passed away in 2004.

Task

1. Select two images that have manipulated truth, one historical using camera technology, one contemporary using AI technology as examples to use in your essay
2. Research history, theory and context of both images thoroughly and make notes.
3. Read several sources (both online and on paper) to acquire sufficient knowledge and understanding
4. Provide a critical perspective by referencing different points of view from sources.
5. Select at least 2 quotes per image from sources you have read that is relevant to your essay question.
6. Use Harvard System of Referencing and provide a bibliography
7. Use key terminology specific to art and photography from the matrix/ sheet below.

plan

Hypothesis: Photography and Truth: Can a photograph lie?

Opening quote: to set the scene choose an appropriate quote from key texts or source that you have read and understood. Or select something Will Lakeman said in class discussion around ethics using AI in photography.

Introduction (250 words): Describe how photography from its invention as a new technology in 1839 was viewed as a threat to traditional artforms such as painting and drawing. Provide an overview of why photography (like all other art forms) is an illusion and a representation of reality (reflect on your essay earlier on the Origin of Photography). Explain what AI is as a new technology, and how it is already part of lives, give examples (Google, speech recognition, generative AI etc). Discuss both human and societal benefits and potential dangers of AI, again use examples such as Geoffrey Linton resigning from Google to bring awareness, or Sam Altman’s (CEO of OpenAI) being questioned by USA congress. Select one quote by either Linton or Altman and comment (either for or against). Introduce the two images that you have chosen as examples of the above.

Paragraph 1 (250-500 words): Describe how photography in the past (before the digital age) could be manipulated, both in-camera and in the darkroom (eg. reflect on Pictorialism’s use of chemicals and scratching surfaces in distorting images and earlier masking/ collaging technique sin the darkroom.) Provide an example of an image (see case studies below) from history of photography where the truth was distorted. Describe circumstances, context, different points of view and new discoveries or theories around the origin or meaning of your chosen image. Use either direct quote, paraphrasing or summary from sources and comment (for or against). Make sure you provide your own interpretation of the image too.

Paragraph 2 (250 -500 words): Describe how photography now since the digital age has been altering the truth from faking images in-camera to using image manipulation software, such as Photoshop. Provide an example of an image (see case studies below) produced using artificial intelligence that looks ‘real’, but are in fact a digital construct. Provide analysis of how generative AI such as DreamStudio, Midjourney or DALL E 2 has increased our ability to create new images that has no relationship with either photography or the truth. Use same formula as above and use either direct quote, paraphrasing or summary from sources and comment (for or against). Make sure you provide your own interpretation of the image too.

Conclusion (250 words): Compare and contrast how historical images in the past and digital images made today, using new technology such as AI, have altered reality and distorted truth. Refer back to the essay question and write a conclusion where you summarise in your own words both similarities and differences between your two image examples. Conclude with a statement on how you envisage the future of photography and AI image-making might change our perception of reality, and attitude towards truth.

Bibliography: List all the sources that you have identified in alphabetical order. Apart from listing literature you must also list all other sources e.g. websites/online sources, Youtube/ DVD/TV.

Quotes and referencing: You MUST reference some of the sources that you have used either by incorporating direct quotes, paraphrasing or summarising of an idea, theory or concept, or historical fact.

Essay

Can a photograph lie?

From when photography was invented, around the time of 1839, it was seen as a threat to traditional art forms because it could capture the world with much greater accuracy as well as being quicker than traditional paintings or drawings could. Photography is also viewed as an illusion and or representation of reality due to it creating the impression of depth, texture and motion even though it’s a flat image. We as photographers also have the ability to alter and manipulate said images making them appear different to what the reality of the image would look like. Moving onto more modern implications to photography, artificial intelligence has begun to help us in the aspect of altering our images. A photographer by the name of Will Lakeman also manages to include AI in his projects, he does this by inputting his own photo into an AI altering software and then it manipulates his image based around the prompt he gives it. From the very first type of artificial intelligence being created in 1951, it has developed and changed so much that it has now become a regular feature in our everyday lives, from using Alexa in our homes to simply googling anything. While AI certainly brings around many positives for society, such as being able to have information or communicate with each other at the press of a button, it also brings around a possibility of danger. For example, with AI practically providing free labour, many people will be let out of jobs if AI can replace them since it would be more cost efficient for employers.  

In the past, photographs were usually altered using what is known as a dark room. This would be a dimly lit area that would be used to develop images. The photographer would take their photos using silver halide light sensitive film in their cameras and would then process the film and use a machine called the enlarger to project light through the negative onto light sensitive silver halide paper to then make the image into a print. This was a very fine process and had to be done extremely carefully, often taking around 3 to 7 days in total to complete. The image above was taken in 1983 by Steve McCurry, an American photographer. In his picture we are able to see the train and people as the focus point of the image while the Taj Mahal in the background acts as a background. We can also see the lighting of and how sharp the image is on the whole, even the movement and steam being emitted. It is likely that McCurry altered the image someway using a dark room in order to get the picture in focus and more saturated and likely used the method of using a dark room due to the time period the image was taken in. However, the picture itself has some good photographic techniques such as the use of having a focus point. The picture is currently selling for £8,800 and is being featured among his other work regarding ‘social issues’. Currently, there are 44 pieces of work up for sale ranging between £3,000 to £15,000. 

Photographs now days can be easily manipulated by multiple different software’s as well as by artificial intelligence, creating a problem for modern news outlooks since we can’t tell what’s true or what’s false. An example of how easily we can mistake fake images for real images would be in the photo shown above. This image was created by Boris Eldagsen using artificial intelligence. He entered the photo into the Sony world photography awards, a popular photography competition, and ended up winning first place. He declined the reward, however, admitting to having used an artificial intelligence software called DALL-E 2. Currently, there are many types of AI software’s which are used to either alter or create images, a few examples being dream studio, midjourney, etc. They work by you writing a descriptive prompt for the AI to follow, with it then searching through its database for any correlating images already there, then creating a new piece based around the images it found. The very fact that the images AI produces can be so realistic brings about more problems than benefits since you would now be able to forge fake images of anyone to ruin their reputation or even depict them doing something illegal. According to Will Lakeman, he said that ‘Artificial intelligence isn’t actually intelligent’, to which I have to agree. Since the software is only taking inspiration from the work of others and following the prompt you have put into it, it’s not thinking or acquiring knowledge which is needed in order for something to be deemed intelligent.  

In conclusion, historical images and editing processes in the past have changed drastically compared to modern day versions, specifically from the development of AI software’s and how easily they can distort the truth. Referring back to the question, ‘can a photograph lie?’, it is my firm belief that yes, a photograph can lie. We have seen countless times though social media of certain images distorting the truth, even being done by high-ranking people, for example Stalin who would edit out certain people from photos with him after he was no longer aligned or allied with them. While there are some similarities between the past and present on how we alter our images, such as what we choose to edit (a.k.a lighting, cropping, etc) the main difference in my opinion would be the time it takes to alter said images. Now days, editing a photo is very simple and can be done in a matter of minutes however, historically it would take days on end and was a very careful procedure. In the future, I believe AI will become even more advanced causing the AI we use for photography to advance as well. Currently, there is a device in the works that would be inputted into our brains, supposedly allowing us to do everything we can do on a phone but by simply using our minds. If this were to happen and work, it would most likely affect photography negatively since we would be able to ‘save and replay memories’ in our head, making photography somewhat irrelevant.  

Bibliography: 

https://www.tomorrowsworldtoday.com/2023/04/24/ai-generated-image-wins-world-renowned-photography-competition/#:~:text=Photographer%20Boris%20Eldagsen’s%20image%20titled,created%20using%20DALL%2DE%202.

https://narrato.io/blog/what-are-ai-image-generators-how-do-they-work/#:~:text=Switch%20camera-,How%20do%20AI%20image%20generators%20work%3F,number%20of%20image%2Dtext%20pairs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence

https://www.stevemccurry.com/

Steve McCurry

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/tech/2023/06/09/musk-neuralink-brain-chips-fda-human-trials/70299875007/#:~:text=During%20November%202022%20event%2C%20which,said%20at%20a%202020%20event.