BOLO! Upcoming Presentations

522 words; 4 photos; 3-minute read

Next week I have two evening presentations lined up:

• Monday 15 Sept., Hamilton Camera Club, “Just Photography” — an exploration of the grey area between authentic photography and digital art. At what point does the use of third-party editing and Generative AI turn your photographs into digital art?
• Wednesday 17 Sept., Guelph Photographers Guild, “iPhoneography”—how great photographs can be made with phone camera

Just Photography—Pure & Natural

As I wrote in an earlier blog post (Navigating the AI Juggernaut), there is no escaping AI these days. Along with Third-Party Pre-Sets, the two technologies are speeding up the editing process while providing unlimited creative freedom. But, are AI and Pre-Sets also eroding the authenticity of photography?

It seems everyone and every photo app company has jumped on the AI bandwagon creating this unspoken expectation that we accept and adopt these push-button editing solutions because they will make our life easier. I’m asking the question, should we?

What might be ideal for commercial photography is playing havoc with competition photography. And what about decorative photography—to what extent are AI-users willing to divulge to clients their use of AI and Third-Party pre-sets in making a photograph they claim to be ‘theirs’?

With blue hour and golden hour pre-sets, generative fill, expand and replace, at what point does the photograph stop being a photograph and become digital art? Can digital art be called photography? Is it possible to carve out a space for Authentic Photography? What, exactly, is Authentic Photography?

Many photographers are grappling with these questions everyday. The blurred lines created by these advances represent the grey areas we will be exploring on Monday evening with the Hamilton Camera Club.

iPhoneography

The ubiquitous phone camera. With us everyday and every waking moment of our 21st century existence. Though we often treat them as such, they are far beyond the Instamatics of last century. Are we really taking full advantage of the cutting-edge technology sitting in our pocket or purse?

Like you, I shoot with a ‘real’ camera. But my camera and sensor agnosticism has led me to explore and unlock some of the potential built into phone cameras. I’ve learned that the versatility of phone cameras, despite the limitations of sensor size and lenses, can result in some truly remarkable photographs. Especially when, as Ansel Adams once said, “the most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it.”

Join me Wednesday evening with the Guelph Photographers Guild for what I hope is an inspiring presentation unlocking the true potential of the ubiquitous phone camera.

Looking forward to meeting you next week!