Are Some Photographers Becoming Obsolete?
Explore a gallery of 25 captivating images below.
Firstly! I'm neither for nor against the AI revolution happening these days, but I'm fascinated by how quickly I can create art with AI, specifically with Midjourney. I use the term "art" as it is the conventional term, but feel free to call it what you will.
As a photographer and Photoshopper who has been using AI for about two months now, I've been contemplating the future of certain photographers. I just can’t believe what is happening, and I’m experimenting with a lot of different aspects when it comes to AI and images.
Images
Let's consider images that don't need to depict real people, animals, places, landscapes, underwater scenes; the list is extensive. What will be the future for these photographers and who are they? The images are low-res straight out of Midjourney. But with the use of AI, upscaling the images for use in magazines, prints, and more would work fine for the most part, I would assume. I tried upscaling too, and it does wonders!
Assignment
With that thought in mind, I recently assigned myself an AI photo assignment about Marine Pollution to see what I could accomplish from my couch at home. I used ChatGPT as my partner for brainstorming ideas and structuring the prompts, etc.
In conclusion, I spent around 15 hours on this AI-based assignment. That includes writing this blog post and making a vast selection of 130 images out of approximately 1200 images that were produced in Midjourney. With that said, this was a learning process. I am confident that with the next “AI assignment” I can reduce this workload by at least half the time or more.
Now, think of how much time I would have to spend if I were to photograph this in real life. That would involve travelling the world, spending money on everything, creating sets to photograph, and so on. And on top of that, creating surreal images with Photoshop, and probably a lot more that I haven’t thought of. I have no idea, but I believe a job like that would have taken months for one person to execute in real life.
Yeah! Think about that!
Feel free to comment below the images. I love hearing others' opinions and bringing that into my thoughts about this matter.
Stock Photos
In a later blog post, the following images and several more will be 100% free as stock photos for anyone to use however they like. I’ve seen too much trash along the shores when I’m out shooting landscapes - it’s not a pretty sight and more should be done.
If you have an idea you want to see realized, or need something for your project, particularly within the realm of Marine Pollution, please send me an email. While I can't guarantee a result you'll be happy with, I will certainly do my best. Rest assured, you will receive a reply from me no matter what.
Happy viewing!
Note: All images are straight out of Midjourney.
