I am not sure why I am so fascinated by this particular question.
I started thinking about it more as I saw a deluge of AI induced photos blast into our social spaces, forcing me to ask if this photo was ever “real”. The most shocking example is how Samsung’s smartphone (S21, S23) identified a blurry photo of the Moon and added an incredible amount of detail to recreate a high fidelity replication of the moon surface. I keep going back to how we have used Photoshop to make me feel better about this use of AI, because for years Photoshop helped us transform photos in mind-bending ways, so much so that the final output would only vaguely resemble the original.
I really enjoyed the way Apple’s VP of camera software engineering, Jon McCormack, responded to the question:
Here’s our view of what a photograph is. The way we like to think of it is that it’s a personal celebration of something that really, actually happened.
Whether that’s a simple thing like a fancy cup of coffee that’s got some cool design on it, all the way through to my kid’s first steps, or my parents’ last breath, It’s something that really happened. It’s something that is a marker in my life, and it’s something that deserves to be celebrated.
And that is why when we think about evolving in the camera, we also rooted it very heavily in tradition. Photography is not a new thing. It’s been around for 198 years. People seem to like it. There’s a lot to learn from that. There’s a lot to rely on from that.
Think about stylization, the first example of stylization that we can find is Roger Fenton in 1854 — that’s 170 years ago. It’s a durable, long-term, lasting thing. We stand proudly on the shoulders of photographic history.
I think I agree with this definition, but I am also starting to feel less protective of the idea of a photo. It may be because I think photos can also follow the path of the impressionist art movement, where you can rely on the overall visual effects instead of the accuracy of the details within the painting. Impressionism, like our AI powered cameras, can help you capture a moment, or indeed, help you design a moment that may or may not have actually happened.
Whether we capture moments (vibes) or a strict photo makes no real difference to me. I just do not want to feel like I am being misled.
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