A photographer whose name was found on a list of artists whose style the AI image generator Midjourney wanted to emulate tells PetaPixel that “creatives must be remunerated.”

Tim Flach, known for his exquisite photos of animals that look like humans, says that he wasn’t surprised when his name was on the list becacuse he has already been recreating his own photos using Midjourney.

The British photographer shared two of his photos with PetaPixel which he created AI versions of by inputting his own name as a prompt. The results speak for themselves.

Opt In, Not Opt Out

Flach feels strongly that when it comes to training datasets for AI programs, photographers should be able to “opt in”, rather than the current “opt out” state of affairs.

“I think we should demand from governments a clear ‘opt-in’ and not an ‘opt-out’ situation,” Flach tells PetaPixel.

He likens it to an editor running a photograph in a magazine, “You don’t go and run something in an article without checking with the photographer first and say ‘Well, you can now opt out’.”

Flach says that for some of his projects, he has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and insists creatives should be remunerated when their work is ingested by an AI program.

“The fact is, if you are impersonating the style of artists, what does it leave when that technology gets a thousand times more powerful?” He says.

“It does create a challenge, I think, for many people’s livelihood. The data sets are being trained on our images. Without these images, it wouldn’t function so effectively.

“And the irony is, many of the artists who’s been scraped will be paying subscription fees back to Midjourney who have investments and profit that runs into billions, one assumes.”

Midjourney could be valued as much as $10 billion after it reportedly generated $200 million in revenue last year despite being a small team of just 40 employees.

Recreating His Own Photos With Midjourney

Flach, whose magnificent photos emphasize animals’ characters and personalities, has been recreating his photos on Midjourney and finds it remarkably easy to generate images in his unique style.

“My style is quite distinctive,” he says. “I did a book on birds that came out in 2021, and you can literally ask the system to do a bird in my style and it picks a particular bird that was in the book and is incredibly close.

“And it always has the black background; it’s looking straight at the viewer. All these factors, you’re not asking it to do anything other than produce an eagle in my style.

“The fact that without our images they would have no capacity at all, I think that’s very hard to grasp. And when it comes to style, the fact you can actually ask it to describe a style by a particular photographer — it seems extraordinary.

“I don’t look at it as today. I look at it as what would happen in five years’ time because effectively it’ll be a thousand times more powerful according to the speed at which generative AI is improving by.

“Essentially, we’re putting a lot of resources into generating content that is being ingested and spat back out again.”

He calls this process image laundering or data laundering. Recently, a database of some 16,000 names of artists kept by Midjourney whose style the AI image generator allegedly wanted to copy was released as part of a lawsuit amendment to a class-action complaint brought by three artists suing Midjourney and Stable Diffusion.

The huge list includes thousands of artists’ names; among them are scores of photographers — both living and dead — whose styles Midjourney apparently wanted to copy so that users of its AI image generator could make AI pictures in the style of that photographer.

The case is ongoing and Midjourney has not commented.

You can find more of Flach’s work on his website and Instagram.

Image credits: Photographs by Tim Flach

The awe-inspiring photographs of rare birds captivated visitors at the bird photography exhibition arranged by the Zoology Department of Sri Venkateswara University (SVU) on Wednesday. Titled ‘Capturing Feathered Wonders’, the exhibition aimed to showcase the diverse avian species through the lens of talented photographers to students.

Over 200 bird species were displayed at the exhibition, inaugurated by SVU vice-chancellor V. Srikanth Reddy, in the presence of registrar O.Md. Hussain, SVU College of Sciences principal Ramakrishna Reddy and zoology head S. Kishore.

“The collection included a variety of species, vibrant nesting habits, roosting and brooding pictures, thus offering a holistic window into the avian ecosystem to the visitors,” said M. Rajasekhar, professor and wildlife researcher in zoology, who organised the event.

The students browsed through the gallery and learnt about the ecological roles, behaviour and conservation status of the birds; some expressed interest in wildlife photography, especially in ornithology, while some interacted with the experts to learn the significance of avifauna.

Among the photographers whose work was displayed was V. Kiran Kumar, a Deputy Inspector-General in the Department of Registration and Stamps. Passionate about wildlife photography as a hobby, he toured the State, especially the Pulicat and Kolleru lake areas, to capture hundreds of images.

Tarrah Krajnak 

A multidisciplinary artist working across photography, performance, and poetry, Krajnak focuses on the craft and material process of photography, printing all her own photographs. She uses analog cameras as a tool to examine ties between her body; her birthplace of Lima, Peru; and the invisible histories of both. Krajnak’s life experiences as an Indigenous transracial adoptee connect with much broader systems of socioeconomic inequality, corruption, and instability, and she employs her own transracial body, performing archival interventions to make visible marginalized histories and bodies hidden in the archive. “Messengers” features three series of works from Krajnak – “Black Messengers,” “Automatic Rocks/Excavation,” and “Master Rituals II: Weston’s Nudes.” 

Rodrigo Valenzuela 

Valenzuela’s work traverses photography, video, and installation, merging his interest in art history, architecture, the concept of work, and the realities of laborers. Valenzuela builds scenes in his studio, often working with simple building materials, and his compositions resemble miniature ruins built from studio detritus. The resulting monochrome photographs constantly shift between flatness and architectural space and between documentary photography and fiction. This exhibition features his newest series, “Garabatos,” which depicts his tableaux of wood and plaster sculptures painted white. Each image is meant to evoke figurative gestures of insults from varying nationalities, i.e. “flipping the bird.” Valenzuela is interested in abstract gestures that are part of the collective lexicon, a desperate attempt to communicate. 

“Messengers” will be on view from Thursday, Feb. 1, through Saturday, April 20.

Visiting the galleries

Located at 190 Alumni Mall, the Moss Arts Center’s galleries are open on Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. The center offers many opportunities for students, faculty, and community members to engage with artists and their work. To arrange a group tour of the galleries, contact Laura Higgins.

Parking is available in the North End Parking Garage on Turner Street. When not staffed for a special event, visitors may park in the garage by taking a ticket at entry and paying with Visa or Mastercard upon exit. Find more parking details online.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Jamie Wiggert at least 10 days prior to the event at 540-231-5300 or email wiggertj@vt.edu during regular business hours. 

Even in the midst of conflict and hardship, there still exists a charming beauty that often goes unnoticed by the ordinary eye. And this beauty is what French photographer Oriane Zerah has embarked on showcasing, in a remarkable expedition throughout Afghanistan. In this country often plagued by conflict, she captures floral grandeur in the middle of the crises that its people face. 

Oriane’s evocative photographs showcase a different side of Afghanistan. They reveal the resilience and beauty that coexist with the harsh realities of war and stereotypes. Through her lens, she strives to challenge prejudiced thinking about the country and offers a fresh perspective on a nation often defined by conflict. 

The Floral Photography of Oriane Zerah

A self-trained in photography and an enthusiast of traveling, Oriane has always been fascinated by the interest that Afghan people have in flowers. The photographer, who, for years, spent her time capturing the beauty of flowers in the often volatile Afghanistan notes that despite the not-so-peaceable conditions that the country often finds itself in, its people still showcase an admiration for floral beauty.

In a series of floral snapshots that she has taken in a photography project named Afghanistan: Roses under Thorns, Oriane documents the daily lifestyles of Afghans detailing how the people perceive flowers and how they hold them in great reverence. 

The Inspiration Behind the Project and Its Metaphoric Impression

Oriane’s fascination with Afghanistan began long before she even set foot in the country. Drawn to the rich cultural heritage and intrigued by the juxtaposition of floral beauty and conflict, she felt compelled to challenge the prevailing stereotypes and shed light on the untold stories of its people. Her project, titled ‘Afghanistan: Roses under the Thorns’, showcases the deep respect and admiration that she has for the Afghan people and their enduring spirit.

Flowers have always held a special place in human culture, often symbolizing elements like love, beauty, and hope. In Oriane’s project, the flowers are, in ways, metaphors for resilience and defiance demonstrated by the Afghans. In her capturing of Afghan men adorned with flowers, she defies conventional notions of masculinity and confronts the stereotype of the Afghan warrior. 

In a society deeply affected by war and violence, she says the sight of men proudly wearing or holding flowers confronts expectations and accentuates the universal human need for delicate beauty, even in the harshest circumstances.

Oriane Zerah:

“I’ve been very lucky to do this project because it’s quite a privilege to show the beauty of flowers in Afghanistan, and to share it. People there have always been so happy about my photography. The media hardly talks about the country positively. Whoever talks about this country is always portraying it in negative terms.

Afghanistan has so much to offer but what we see or read isn’t always the reality. So, people here are actually appreciating me. I’ve never had any bad experience whenever I took a photo of an Afghan with flowers. And surprisingly, even after the takeover by the Taliban, there were some soldiers on the streets with flowers on their weapons, and they were happy to pose for me. I took photos of them with their weapons adorned with flowers.” 

Essentially, the Kabul-based French photographer’s pictures offer a new perspective on Afghanistan, depicting the inherent dignity and grace of its people. Be it men wearing flowers on their traditional hats or soldiers juxtaposing rifles and other weapons and blossoms, Oriane’s images speak volumes about the complex realities of life in the country. 

Her lens captures the often too-fragile balance between hope and despair during war and showcases the resilience and determination of the Afghans amid these situations.

The Afghan Allure

Her photography project, Oriane says, is a means to positively talk about Afghanistan, a country she says she deeply fell in love with ever since she first visited in 2012, and lived there till 2015 before leaving then going back to settle down in 2019.

Oriane:

“It’s been twelve years that I’ve been in Afghanistan. It was, therefore, important for me to show another aspect of the country, because whenever anyone talks about Afghanistan, it’s always about tragedies and wars, which of course, was a reality. The country has been at war for more than forty years. But there’s always a different side to a story. And I wanted to show this other side.

Any foreigner who goes to Afghanistan and anyone who’s been there will notice this love that afghan people have for flowers. I believe that the more there’s violence in a place, the more the need for beauty. And flowers are like the beauty within. You don’t need to be rich or have money to have flowers. Anyone can grow them even in the smallest space they have. That’s what Afghans do.”

Afghanistan, she says, is a land of many contrasts, which, however, add to the richness of the floral beauty that the country possesses. It is, for instance, much easier for Afghan men to pose with flowers than it is for women. Women, Oriane says, hardly accept to pose. Though they sometimes do, it is rare. But men, on the other hand, easily accept; they take photographs outside and in public places. Women who accept to have their photographs taken usually do so inside their homes. 

That notion, she says, she found quite fascinating because the impression it portrayed was contrary to traditional beliefs that often associated Afghan men more with Kalashnikovs than with roses. 

She adds:

“Every place in Afghanistan is very scenic but it all depends. For some photography, I would just be walking through the city with a bunch of flowers, and if I see an interesting face with an interesting background, I would just ask the people to pose for me with the flowers. I would also ask them what flowers represent in their lives. And every so often I noticed this little moment; whenever you give a flower to someone and they hold it, it was enough to make them open up.” 

Breaking Stereotypes With Flowers

As previously noted, one of the main inspirations behind Oriane’s flower photography project is to challenge stereotypes and misconceptions about Afghan society. Afghanistan is often portrayed in the media as a war-ravaged nation, overshadowing its rich floral and cultural heritage and the daily lives of its people.

Focusing on the beauty of flowers and the individuals who proudly embrace them, therefore, inspires anyone else to question their preconceived notions of the country and see beyond the stereotypes.

And through her photography, Oriane has managed to significantly achieve this feat, and in turn gain widespread acclaim for the photographs’ ability to arouse emotions. Her exhibitions have, equally, provided a platform for dialogues and understanding of the Afghan people on a much deeper level. 

Appreciating the universal language of flowers and floral beauty, her works basically use these elements to foster empathy and human connection; a pointer to the humanity that exists beneath the surface. Additionally, through her photographs, she showcases, not just floral beauty, but also the strength that coexists with the challenges faced by the country and its people.

You can also read about gardening and the tranquility that it brings even amid wars and chaos.

All photos by Oriane Zerah (@oriane_zerah_photo)

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was infamous for his lack of patience with photoshoots, and another 40th anniversary of the Mac piece includes a story of how Apple hired a photographer for a week, flew him to Sweden, hired a helicopter – but he still didn’t get the photo because Steve changed his mind …

The Macworld piece starts with a shot photographer Will Mosgrove did manage to get: a photo of Steve with the original Macintosh, for the cover of the magazine.

He said that one wasn’t easy, but Steve at least gave them enough time to take it.

We did a couple of quick Polaroids and make sure everything was looking good, lighting-wise. Shot about five minutes or so, and he said, are we done? And I said, we can be, I’d like to try a couple of different things. And he said, well, I’d like to try something, too. 

So, he started making this really kind of interesting, zany kind of symbols with his hands, and I kind of looked over to the people from Macworld and they were just kind of shaking their heads–don’t worry, we’re not going to use those. [Laughs.] We played along with it and shot some film, and it was literally over in probably 15 to 20 minutes.

But the funnier story is when Apple commissioned him to take a promo photo of Steve, went to a huge amount of trouble to set it up – but when they were actually in the helicopter, Steve decided he didn’t want any photos.

There was a university consortium going on, and at the end of this–it was in Lund, Sweden–Steve was going to fly in from Stockholm, and they wanted a photograph of him coming into this castle location, showing the landscape in the background, looking down at the castle, saying he’s going to this consortium of Macintosh users to kind of give him a look like a world leader. Here he is in a European country coming down to talk to university people […]

They said, okay, Steve’s flying in from Stockholm. Let’s go to the airport so you get a helicopter there. We’d like him to be looking out the window. If you can get the castle in the background, the beautiful landscape. I said, sure, let’s go […]

So, we take off, we get about an eight-minute ride to this, this dinner at the castle to close off the consortium. 

And as I’m getting my camera out and ready to go, he said, you know, I don’t think I want any pictures. And I said, well, okay, you know, they flew me from California to Sweden to get this shot and you know, I’m here and I’m ready to do it. Can we just think about this? 

He kind of grunted and I was looking through the camera again doing this. He goes, I don’t think I really want any photographs.

I said, well how about if we take some photographs and you take a look at them? If you don’t want to use them that’s fine with me, but you know, Tom Hughes (who was the artistic director) said can you get this shot, and I said, yeah, and I need to come back with something. And he goes, I don’t want any photographs. 

There’s about 30 seconds of awkward silence. And, you know, I kind of was playing, I start picking up one more time. He goes, no fucking photos. So I went, okay, put the camera away. And his aide was kind of saying, you know, don’t, that’s it. We’re done. 

Fortunately, Hughes heard about it, and laughed it off.