Over the course of this summer, I ventured on a personal project aimed at re-lighting my passion for creating images in the way I used to.

Despite having immersed myself in AI tools over the past year, I had scarcely picked up a camera. Determined to break free from this trend, I set out to craft something truly original.

Visualising the concept

I conceptualized a scene where a woman finds herself amidst nature, accompanied by a colossal hand emerging from the ground and grasping a giant light bulb. This artwork, titled “Inspiration Illuminated,” serves as a sort of sequel to my previous piece, “Creative Block.” 

Through this endeavour, my objective was to demonstrate that I can craft captivating narrative-driven images without relying on AI tools or stock imagery. Each minute detail within the composition was crafted by hand or captured in the natural environment. Of course, I put it all together in Photoshop and other Adobe tools.

Creating the elements

The creative process started with an idea and sketching, followed by the crafting of each element. I crafted the hand, first making the plaster mould of my own hand and then using that to create the hand from acrylic resin.

You can see the parts of the process in the video below. I also constructed a miniature landscape using moss, stones, and intricately painted components outside the table of my house.

Earlier on, I had purchased a battery-powered light bulb, which I positioned within the hand’s grasp. It took some hours to perfect the evening lighting and shoot all the needed elements of the backplate image, after which I set about preparing the backdrop for the final image.

Shooting the image

Naturally, the central figure, the woman, needed to be integrated. To this end, I reached out to Taina Törmänen, whom I had long aspired to collaborate with.

Ultimately, a photo shoot was arranged, resulting in the essential component of my artwork. After this, an extensive post-processing phase followed, involving attention to detail: merging the elements seamlessly, refining the tonal palette, and various masking techniques.

And now, after countless hours of dedication and hard work, “Inspiration Illuminated” stands complete. This project, as I mentioned earlier, was a personal challenge—a means to throw myself beyond the comforts of AI that have made the creative process so effortless.

AI versus composite photography

While AI tools undoubtedly offer efficiency and boundless creative avenues, this project holds a significance that goes beyond mere utility. It embodies a level of dedication and emotion that AI-generated pieces sometimes might lack.

Though I remain doing my own and client projects with AI tools for the freedom and efficiency they provide, this project served as a reminder of my artistic roots. The endeavour of putting such immense effort into a single image has made the journey itself as valuable as the resulting art piece.

About the author

Antti Karppinen has won dozens of international awards for visual artistry & commercial photography and belongs to a new generation of image artisans to whom all things are possible. You can find out more about Antti on his website and follow his work on Instagram and Facebook. This article was also published here and shared with permission.

They wear out shoe leather. They talk to strangers. They move through our shared spaces like ballerinas.

For them, the public is the source of their art.

San Diego street photographers like Ariana Drehsler spend their days depicting ordinary life. Drehsler is also a photographer for Voice of San Diego.

“I actually started doing some street photography before I got into photojournalism,” she said. ”Just walking around taking photos.”

Street photography is one of the oldest photographic styles, according to Chantel Paul, the galleries and exhibitions coordinator for San Diego State University.

”Street photography is a style of photography that quite often is referred to as something that is really capturing the energy or essence of life on the street,” she said.

The desire to document San Diego comes out of a sense of pride, she said.

”I think the fact that people are working in our city in this way, it also elevates San Diego in a way,” Paul said. ”To say people want to share what the city is, they want to create a portrait of the city.”

Jason Santiago, another street photographer, said this style is a cousin to photojournalism.

”Street’s like photojournalism without purpose,” he said. ”You know, I’m just documenting everyday life.”

Drehsler said even on assignment, sometimes the street gives her something beautiful.

”Months ago when I photographed the Point In Time count I saw this woman at 7 a.m. feeding the birds, the light was amazing and you see all these birds,” she said.

Street photography is about the public and it’s made in public. So in some ways, it is public art. And it can be seen by the public on social media sites like Instagram, Paul said.

”You can filter your feed to look at certain hashtags, to find certain accounts, and then you can keep following those, there’s a huge community aspect to Instagram,” she said.

Michael Buescher’s Journey with Camera And Photography

Photo Credits Michael Buescher
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Michael Buescher Shares His Journey With Camera And Photography

Russia and Ukraine are still at war. Life is hard for people living in these impoverished conditions. Everyone is watching these unfortunate times of the two nations through the lens of photographers. But have you ever thought about what a photographer goes through? Or what state of mind they are in during their shoots? It can be a pure bliss or a complete chaos. Today our guest is Michael Buescher. He is a model, a professional dancer, a photographer, and an activist. Let’s hear from Michael Buescher about his journey to the Palistian through his lens!

Michael Buescher have been a photographer for over 20 years. The passion of picture making and collaborating with wonderful people has been the fuel for all this time and the journey ahead.

Michael is a proud member of NPS (Nikon Professional Services) and IATSE (International Cinematographers Union). Shooting in film and television production has been an incredible asset in developing my relationships with his business clients.

Photo credit Michael Buescher
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Michael tell us about yourself a bit….

I am Michael Buescher. I have been a model, professional dancer, photographer, and activist. I like to think my work has been inspired by goodness, education, inclusivity, justice, and a passion to grow and protect those who are most vulnerable. I love art and creativity and hearing about the stories of others. I can often be heard to say, ‘People are my entertainment” because I am fascinated by what we do and say and how they make their way in this world. I hope whoever reads this finds a way to connect with me so I can get to know you also.

Photo credit Michael Buescher
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When did you decide to be a photographer?
I think I fell in love with photography over a period of many years.

I can’t say when the penny dropped but there were so many good experiences along the way. One photograph that always stayed in my mind was a black and white print of Miles Davis playing the trumpet. His forearm was flexing so much it looked like his arm was just fused with the instrument. It was quite incredible. It didn’t occur to me in that moment how such an image could be made or that I could also become a photographer and create such shots. But years later time and circumstance conspired to create an opportunity and I jumped right in. I didn’t know how things were going to play out. Photography still seemed confusing, daunting, and expensive.  But 20 years later I have a successful career and I have had a lot fun along the way.

Before all of that, I started ‘playing’ with photography as a teenager. I bought my first camera, a Pentax ME Super. Unique to the model it had shutter speed control buttons on the top near the shutter release and that seemed really sophisticated and cool for a beginner.

How was the photography during those times? Please share your experience.
I didn’t use the camera too much till I went on a cross-Europe bicycle trip from England to Israel a couple of years later. This was a time when the world looked very different.

In 1989 there was no internet, there were no cell phones, or small electronic devices to aid a world traveler. Every day is an adventure because you don’t know what you are going to find, where you are going to sleep or eat, or who you are going to meet. And that is very exciting. I loved bringing my camera out to point it at things, but the film was expensive to buy and develop. In some cases, I held onto it for months before I could get it to a lab for processing. From that wonderful travel experience, some incredible images were created.

Photo credit Michael Buescher
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Please give us an insight into your traveling journey and your photography.
Visiting Beersheba, Jerusalem, and Dehaisha a Palestinian refugee camp I compiled a little story about life in this small area of the Middle East. At this time it was the period of the first ‘Intifada’, the armed uprising of Palestinians to reclaim the occupied territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. For several years international news outlets showed guns being fired rocks being thrown, and people suffering and dying. Particularly young Palestinian children were becoming involved in the conflicts getting caught in the gunfire and getting killed. The world was outraged at the image of young children being killed by soldiers with guns for doing no more than throwing stones

It was against this backdrop that I visited Dehaisha. The settlement which was next to the main highway had a very high fence to protect passing vehicles from rocks. Access points to the settlement were guarded by Israeli soldiers. They did not want to allow us access to Dehaisha, nevertheless, we had done our research and we knew they could not prevent us from entering a public place. The rest of the story is largely told in pictures. We met very friendly Palestinian adults who were eager to show foreigners their homes and share tea. We also met screaming mobs of children who wanted to touch us because we wore Western clothes and looked so different. Although the language barrier was significant, we walked peacefully through Dehaisha camp under the protection of our new Palestinian friends. It was a simple journey but with a profound meaning for me. I was not a hired professional but I found something I was willing to put myself at some risk to accomplish and I believed in greatly. Although only still in its infancy the photographer in me was born this Day in Dehaisha.

Share a life-altering event that helped you in some way.
Well some eventful years passed, and I had decided after doing some modeling for a local photographer and being really intrigued by the photographic process that I would take my own photography a little more seriously. It was quite a big mental step because it would take a lot of money, which I didn’t have, just to get started. But the day when I woke up and my heart and mind were utterly set to make the leap I received a pre-approved loan for 10,500.00 in the mail from the local Credit Union I had never received a preapproved loan in my life. There was no other way to see this as anything but a message from the universe.

So away I went! I shot a lot of things over the next while and then months later another fortuitous opportunity. I was tipped off by the same colleague who I had modeled for years earlier and she mentioned that a local director needed a photographer for their short film which was going to play at that year’s Vancouver International Film Festival.

I didn’t know too much about movie sets at that time, but I got some good shots, and the experience of set life really changed me on that day. I was so impressed by the ingenuity, creativity passion, and hard work of this crew and cast.  I kind of fell in love with the whole process of filmmaking. Over the next several years I worked for over 75 local directors on independent film projects, and I worked for every single film organization in this city multiple times over and always on a volunteer basis gaining valuable experience and connections. The rest you can kind of say is history. I got my first big break on a TV series out of town and things sort of flowed from there. I have now worked for every major Studio including Warner Brothers, Universal, Disney, Netflix, and Apple TV. It’s been quite a journey and a life-transforming process! Set life for a still photographer is somewhat like being an ancient Japanese Bunraku puppet theatre artist.

Few words for the readers. And I won’t say too much more about that. Go to the NFB of Canada and find out for yourself and look up the earliest recorded works of this wonderful puppet theatre – it’s much more interesting and powerful to tell this kind of story through the poetic metaphor. I think you would be delighted!!

Check out more about him here — Michael Buescher

Today, we would like to introduce you to a unique photo project by the Czech photographer Dita Pepe. The series, titled ‘Self-portraits,’ began in 1999 and features the author alongside strangers within their own families, often as their doppelganger. Several years ago, we featured some photographs from this series, which showcased Dita posing with male models exclusively. However, this time, we aim to share more photos from this collection, featuring both men and women.

Scroll down to discover how Dita Pepe seamlessly integrates herself into other families and learn more about the series from the artist herself. If you would like to view more photos previously featured in our Bored Panda post, you can click here.

More info: ditapepe.cz | Instagram | Facebook | Self-Portraits