No one's ready for this --- Our basic assumptions about photos capturing reality are about to go up in smoke.

[usonian]

https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/22/24225972/ai-photo-era-what-is-reality-google-pixel-9

An explosion from the side of an old brick building. A crashed bicycle in a city intersection. A cockroach in a box of takeout. It took less than 10 seconds to create each of these images with the Reimagine tool in the Pixel 9’s Magic Editor. They are crisp. They are in full color. They are high-fidelity. There is no suspicious background blur, no tell-tale sixth finger. These photographs are extraordinarily convincing, and they are all extremely fucking fake.

Anyone who buys a Pixel 9 — the latest model of Google’s flagship phone, available starting this week — will have access to the easiest, breeziest user interface for top-tier lies, built right into their mobile device. This is all but certain to become the norm, with similar features already available on competing devices and rolling out on others in the near future. When a smartphone “just works,” it’s usually a good thing; here, it’s the entire problem in the first place.

Photography has been used in the service of deception for as long as it has existed. (Consider Victorian spirit photos, the infamous Loch Ness monster photograph, or Stalin’s photographic purges of IRL-purged comrades.) But it would be disingenuous to say that photographs have never been considered reliable evidence. Everyone who is reading this article in 2024 grew up in an era where a photograph was, by default, a representation of the truth. A staged scene with movie effects, a digital photo manipulation, or more recently, a deepfake — these were potential deceptions to take into account, but they were outliers in the realm of possibility. It took specialized knowledge and specialized tools to sabotage the intuitive trust in a photograph. Fake was the exception, not the rule.

... lots and lots of examples ...

We briefly lived in an era in which the photograph was a shortcut to reality, to knowing things, to having a smoking gun. It was an extraordinarily useful tool for navigating the world around us. We are now leaping headfirst into a future in which reality is simply less knowable.

Personal note: I only use the Apple Preview app to adjust (not edit) photos, and from time to time, the free and open source GIMP editor to adjust white balance or edit out some power lines. I keep Darktable and RawTherapee (also free and open source) for those times (not yet encountered) where Nikon's idea of a jpeg falls short of what I envisaged, and the RAW file needs to be adjusted or edited. I use the phone for impromptu shots, like the fun ones from the thrift store or bookstore below.





It's more real and more fun UN-edited. Only cropped and lighting adjusted.
That's how I saw it.

[al bupp]

1. It's the brave new world we were all promised

The only certainty will be uncertainty.

[Mousetoescamper]

2. Frontiers are disappearing and the boundary lines are breached

When I point a camera at a subject without an idea of composition and what I'm trying to represent, the result is a snapshot. In post production I might be able turn a snapshot into something that approaches being a photograph. My post production is limited to what Canon DPP 4 software can do with RAW images and what the stock 2015 version of the Apple Photos application can do with JPEGs.

I have no means of removing utility lines or adding objects that were not present in an original image. I don't wish to present an altered reality. The photos I post here are produced with a minimum of manipulation. I crop and make adjustments to lighting while trying to avoid the over saturation of colors. What you see in my photos is as close as I can get to what I saw with my eyes.

There's nothing like creating something that is the result of your own skills, vision and hard work. When I create music or take photos, there is often a great deal of trial-and-error involved. When someone on DU questions whether my work is my own or implies that it has been photoshopped, as happened recently, it pisses me right the fuck off! I don't want to eat pizza and, so far, I've been restrained in my response.

I could no more feel gratified and satisfied in taking credit for a photo created by a robot than I could in creating a song using AI. Anything produced that way is empty and meaningless. It is devoid of humanity. It is worthless shit.

If you value art made by actual, not virtual, humans, there are many of us who will continue creating the real thing. If no one else values my art, I will still take great satisfaction in making something that I can genuinely call my own.

[usonian]

3. Indeed. The power line removal was the first and only time so far that I've taken something out of a photo.

IMO, A real photograph is art. It's how the photographer felt at the time and how they want to share it. (exception is the creative work labeled as such)

And I have had some wonderful feelings in my encounters.

Here's the simplistic healing I did with GIMP. (No AI)
A mighty nice scene, and I couldn't get out in front of the wires.





No super-saturated stuff for me.
You do excellent work!

[Mousetoescamper]

4. I don't object to removing depressingly ubiquitous power lines from photos.

Your alteration is flawless and the photo is splendid!

I've experimented with some free trial software, including a Photoshop product, and decided that it's not only too expensive, but adds more layers of technology that come between me and the subject.

Nothing will stop the onslaught of AI and other technologies that are reducing human creativity to zeros and ones. The future may seem bleak after reading about the Pixel 9, but I think art created by actual humans will continue to appeal to some us. Handcrafted items, live music and photos that represent consensus reality will still have a place, although they might not continue providing a means of making a living.

I'd like to see more discussions in the Photography group, not so much about gear and ISOs, but about the art of photography and the emotional connections you touched on above.

Thanks for replying.

[usonian]

5. My cousin creates real "hang on the wall" art.

And she thinks my photos are great.
It takes all kinds.

My dad was an artist, whose love was for oils, and he created some very fine paintings. From portraits to still life to scenics.

Some of the work posted here is just heart-warming.

Every (good) photo tells a story. About the subject and the photographer.

Cheers.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

6. We used to say that "a photo doesn't lie."

It was never really true, but for the most part people generally accepted photographic evidence as being real. Those days are now gone. Everything has changed, and it won't change back.

[usonian]

7. Can't figure an alternative.

New cameras are going to "sign" photos somehow, cryptographically, I guess, but I have no idea if that applies to the raw file and/or a derivative jpeg. Any processing, even creating JPEGs inside the camera, is subject to tampering.

After all, firmware updates are regularly downloaded and installed. Might be back to good old film, processing signed off. Who knows?

And phone cameras are ALL processing.