The Role of Film Photography in an AI World

[Herr Barnack]

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We are not that far down the road to hell with regard to AI and it appears than an increasing number of people are through with AI, photographers in particular. 

I love my M10 Monochrom and Q2 - and the stunning prints (other people's words, not self aggrandizement) that they can produce.  As for AI imaging, my interest level is significantly lower than my interest in having an intimate physical relationship with a farm animal.

This essay has me thinking that it's past time to dust off my M4-P, film developing kit and the ziploc bag full of Tri-X in my gear cabinet.

 

Quote

 

The Role of Film Photography in an AI World

https://www.35mmc.com/12/02/2023/the-role-of-film-photography-in-an-ai-world-by-joseph/

 

 

[dpitt]

I am not sure what you mean by road to hell with AI? AI is just an other technique added to the tool set of the digital photographer. It allows for further manipulation of the original image and eventually it will allow a computer to generate images that look real, but that never existed.

As all techniques this will be used for good and for bad. It will be harder to prove anything with a digital picture. But that was already the case with photoshopped images before AI came along.  On the web, it is already hard to see if an image is shot with film or just with a film profile in a digital camera enhanced by post processing software. Even video's will be easier to fake convincingly. It will definitely hurt truth seeking. It is already hard now to answer the question fake news or not, and it will get harder.

To me having a film negative 'that was present at the scene' like the article says is not an added value. Just as  having a camera that took the picture is not. If the final image is of artistic quality, it is of value. If it does not look good to me it is not of value for me. It could be created artificially without any camera for all I care.

I do not think we have to stop using camera's and film because there is an other way to make a picture. That is like saying we have to stop painting because a photo can capture reality better.

Or do you see other implications of AI?

 

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[lmans]

If you take a film negative and scan it....    now open it on software; are you not using AI under certain aspects of photo software? IE... the erase or fill or clone etc ? jim

[Steve Ricoh]

On 2/12/2023 at 3:22 PM, Herr Barnack said:

.  As for AI imaging, my interest level is significantly lower than my interest in having an intimate physical relationship with a farm animal.

 

 

 

JHC 😳

[Herr Barnack]

On 2/13/2023 at 12:56 AM, dpitt said:

I am not sure what you mean by road to hell with AI?

...  Or do you see other implications of AI?

 

They say that art imitates life; the reverse can also be true. 

Add that to the law of unintended consequences and humanity's inherent capability/compulsion to bugger things up and we end up with some truly unnerving possibilities.

 

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Edited February 16, 2023 by Herr Barnack

[oldwino]

5 hours ago, Steve Ricoh said:

JHC 😳

Well, he did say “significantly”.

[hansvons]

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There are certain aspects of AI that can be quite helpful in film photography if one wants to digitise the negative. 
 

I experimented a lot with sharpening film scans to get the most out of them for printing. My goal is to make the grain as sharp as meaningfully possible. The developer plays a huge role and so does the quality of the macro lens/scanner, but also the sharpening applied at the end of the process can be of a huge benefit, if done subtly. 

I find that Topaz Gigapixel used at 1:1 ratio (not enlarging the image) and set to low-resolution source does a better job than anything conventional in LR or C1. 

Edited February 18, 2023 by hansvons