Photography in the Age of Synthetic Imaging, with Fred Ritchin

08/01/2024Link0

Where does the medium of photography stand in an era where the latest mantra encourages people to “Skip the Photo Shoot?”

Synthetic image © Fred Ritchin: image generated by the artificial intelligence system DALL-E, in response to the text prompt by Fred Ritchin, “An iconic photograph from the year 1945,” 2023.

How can a viewer continue to trust photographs as evidence in a marketplace where AI is touted as a “revolution,” and “the new digital camera” that we need to embrace?

And what methods can a photographer use today to be considered a credible witness with a transparent code of ethics?

These are just a few of the points raised in our discussion with renowned writer, photo editor, and educator Fred Ritchin. For more than forty years, Ritchin has kept tabs on the progressive shift from using a camera to record the visible as truth to getting the world to look the way we want it to look.

This is a synthetic image, not a photograph, generated by DALL-E, an artificial intelligence system, in response to the text prompt by Fred Ritchin, “A photograph of a man on the day he retires,” 2022.
This is a synthetic image, not a photograph, generated by DALL-E, an artificial intelligence system, in response to the text prompt by Fred Ritchin, “A photograph of a man on the day he retires,” 2022.
This is a synthetic image, not a photograph, generated by DreamStudio, an artificial intelligence system, in response to the text prompt by Fred Ritchin, ““A photograph of a Ukrainian old woman traumatized by the war, 2023,” 2023.
This is a synthetic image, not a photograph, generated by DreamStudio, an artificial intelligence system, in response to the text prompt by Fred Ritchin, ““A photograph of a Ukrainian old woman traumatized by the war, 2023,” 2023.
This is a synthetic image, not a photograph, generated by DALL-E, an artificial intelligence system, in response to the text prompt by Fred Ritchin, “An iconic photograph from the year 1945,” 2023.
This is a synthetic image, not a photograph, generated by DALL-E, an artificial intelligence system, in response to the text prompt by Fred Ritchin, “An iconic photograph from the year 1945,” 2023.
This is a synthetic image, not a photograph, generated by DreamStudio, an artificial intelligence system, in response to the text prompt by Fred Ritchin, ““A photograph of a street scene in Berlin in 1815,” 2023.
This is a synthetic image, not a photograph, generated by DreamStudio, an artificial intelligence system, in response to the text prompt by Fred Ritchin, ““A photograph of a street scene in Berlin in 1815,” 2023.
Manga-style portrait image depicting Fred Ritchin, made by a machine at a current exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, 2024, on comics.
Manga-style portrait image depicting Fred Ritchin, made by a machine at a current exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, 2024, on comics.
Previous Pause Next
This is a synthetic image, not a photograph, generated by DALL-E, an artificial intelligence system, in response to the text prompt by Fred Ritchin, “A photograph of a man on the day he retires,” 2022.
This is a synthetic image, not a photograph, generated by DreamStudio, an artificial intelligence system, in response to the text prompt by Fred Ritchin, ““A photograph of a Ukrainian old woman traumatized by the war, 2023,” 2023.
This is a synthetic image, not a photograph, generated by DALL-E, an artificial intelligence system, in response to the text prompt by Fred Ritchin, “An iconic photograph from the year 1945,” 2023.
This is a synthetic image, not a photograph, generated by DreamStudio, an artificial intelligence system, in response to the text prompt by Fred Ritchin, ““A photograph of a street scene in Berlin in 1815,” 2023.
Manga-style portrait image depicting Fred Ritchin, made by a machine at a current exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, 2024, on comics.
Fred Ritchin

Join us, as we wade through the swampy terrain separating photographic fact from synthetic creation, as part of a wider series tracing the effects of AI on today’s creative community.

Real photograph of wooden bench, from Allan Weitz’s park bench series
Real photograph of wooden bench, from Allan Weitz’s park bench series
Real photograph of stone bench, from Allan Weitz’s park bench series
Real photograph of stone bench, from Allan Weitz’s park bench series
Close up photograph of wooden bench with decorative ironwork, from Allan Weitz’s park bench series
Close up photograph of wooden bench with decorative ironwork, from Allan Weitz’s park bench series
Real photograph of mirrored benches on both sides of a tree, from Allan Weitz’s park bench series
Real photograph of mirrored benches on both sides of a tree, from Allan Weitz’s park bench series
Real photograph of massive tree root with background bench, from Allan Weitz’s park bench series
Real photograph of massive tree root with background bench, from Allan Weitz’s park bench series
Synthetic image from Allan Weitz’s park bench series, created with Adobe Firefly using the following text prompts: Lichen-covered, art-deco-style, bench in park, 3-4 angle view, shallow depth-of-field, monochrome
Synthetic image from Allan Weitz’s park bench series, created with Adobe Firefly using the following text prompts: Lichen-covered, art-deco-style, bench in park, 3-4 angle view, shallow depth-of-field, monochrome
Synthetic image from Allan Weitz’s park bench series, created with Adobe Firefly using the following text prompts: Lichen-covered, bench in park, 3-4 angle view, shallow depth-of-field, monochrome
Synthetic image from Allan Weitz’s park bench series, created with Adobe Firefly using the following text prompts: Lichen-covered, bench in park, 3-4 angle view, shallow depth-of-field, monochrome
Synthetic image from Allan Weitz’s park bench series, created with Adobe Firefly using the following text prompts: Lichen-covered, bench in park, 3-4 angle view, shallow depth-of-field, monochrome, beside slightly
Synthetic image from Allan Weitz’s park bench series, created with Adobe Firefly using the following text prompts: Lichen-covered, bench in park, 3-4 angle view, shallow depth-of-field, monochrome, beside slightly
Previous Pause Next
Real photograph of wooden bench, from Allan Weitz’s park bench series
Real photograph of stone bench, from Allan Weitz’s park bench series
Close up photograph of wooden bench with decorative ironwork, from Allan Weitz’s park bench series
Real photograph of mirrored benches on both sides of a tree, from Allan Weitz’s park bench series
Real photograph of massive tree root with background bench, from Allan Weitz’s park bench series
Synthetic image from Allan Weitz’s park bench series, created with Adobe Firefly using the following text prompts: Lichen-covered, art-deco-style, bench in park, 3-4 angle view, shallow depth-of-field, monochrome
Synthetic image from Allan Weitz’s park bench series, created with Adobe Firefly using the following text prompts: Lichen-covered, bench in park, 3-4 angle view, shallow depth-of-field, monochrome
Synthetic image from Allan Weitz’s park bench series, created with Adobe Firefly using the following text prompts: Lichen-covered, bench in park, 3-4 angle view, shallow depth-of-field, monochrome, beside slightly
Allan Weitz

Bonus invite: In preparation for an upcoming discussion between visual artists and AI instigators Boris Eldagsen and Miles Astray, we’re soliciting listener questions. To get your chance for an on-air shout out, please post a question for our guests to the comments section below or email it to: [email protected].

Guest: Fred Ritchin

Sponsored by

Episode Timeline:

  • 4:07: Issues in distinguishing between simulated images and actual photographs, and AI as the revolutionary new digital camera.
  • 9:18: The multiple iterations of the Tiananmen Square Tank Man image—both real and synthetic.
  • 16:06: The matter of size, scale, and linear progression in reading images, building and sequencing a story.
  • 22:16: The Writing with Light campaign, trusting the photographer as a credible witness, and the value of a photographer’s code of ethics.
  • 30:08: The concept of poisoning the well with AI images that look documentary or realistic.
  • 40:43: Episode Break
  • 41:50: Boris Eldagsen, Miles Astray and the challenges their contest entries posed to the divide between real photographs and synthetic imagery.
  • 46:04: The ethics of using a photographer’s name and artistic style on an AI platform.
  • 53:26: The matter of visual and media literacy and informing the public in the era of AI.
  • 1:03:53: Strategies for text prompting while leaving latitude for surprising results.
  • 1:12:56: Fred’s book The Synthetic Eye and the general principles behind his 40 years of reporting on imaging in a digital environment.

Guest Bio:

Fred Ritchin is Dean Emeritus of the School at the International Center of Photography. Prior to ICP, he was a Professor of Photography and Imaging at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he also taught in the Interactive Telecommunications Program. Additionally, he’s a former picture editor of the New York Times Magazine and former executive editor of Camera Arts magazine.

In the mid-90s, Ritchin created the first multimedia version of the New York Times, as well as the website “Bosnia: Uncertain Paths to Peace” in collaboration with photographer Gilles Peress. This site was nominated by the New York Times for a Pulitzer Prize in public service, but then rejected by the Pulitzer Committee because the photographs did not appear on paper—they were electronic—and pixels didn’t count back then.

In 1999, Ritchin co-founded PixelPress, an online publication experimenting with new methods of storytelling, and collaborating with humanitarian organizations on media projects. More recently he created the Four Corners Project, an innovative strategy to provide more context and ethical grounding for the photograph online.

Ritchin has written and lectured internationally about the challenges and possibilities of the digital media revolution. His books on the future of imaging include In Our Own Image: The Coming Revolution in Photography in 1990, After Photography in 2008, and Bending the Frame: Photojournalism, Documentary, and the Citizen in 2013. A new book, The Synthetic Eye: Photography Transformed in the Age of AI recently went to press and is scheduled for release in October 2024.

Among many other honors, Ritchin has received a lifetime achievement award from the Argentinian Documentary Photography Festival, and the John Long Ethics Award from the National Press Photographers Association.

Stay Connected:

Fred Ritchin Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Ritchin

Fred Ritchin bio from ICP: https://www.icp.org/users/fredritchin

Four Corners Project: https://fourcornersproject.org/

The Fifth Corner: https://thefifthcorner.org/

Writing with Light Campaign: https://wwlight.org/

The Synthetic Eye book: https://wwnorton.com/books/9780500297391

Host: Allan Weitz

Senior Creative Producer: Jill Waterman

Senior Producer: Mike Weinstein

Executive Producer: Richard Stevens

0 Comments