A German artist whose AI-generated image won first prize at one of the world’s top photography competitions has declined the award 

Berlin-based “photomedia” artist Boris Eldagsen submitted his image, “The Electrician,” to the Creative category of the 2023 World Photography Organization’s Sony World Photography Awards open competition.

The picture, which appears to be a dated black-and-white portrait of two women, is part of Eldagsen’s “Pseudomnesia: Fake Memories” series(Opens in a new window). Based on the Latin term for fake memory (“such as a spurious recollection of events that never took place, as opposed to a memory that is merely inaccurate,” the project page said), the images were “co-produced” using artificial intelligence generators.

The photo—which, if you look long enough, will reveal itself to be just a little bit wrong—was shortlisted in the Creative category, and eventually selected as the overall winner on March 14.

At the time, Eldagsen, who’s been a photographer since 1989, wrote in a blog post(Opens in a new window) that he was “very happy” to have won, while also acknowledging that the work “is the result of a complex interplay of prompt engineering, inpainting, and outpainting that draws on my wealth of photographic knowledge.

“For me, working with AI image generators is a co-creation, in which I am the director,” he said. “It is not about pressing a button—and done it is. It is about exploring the complexity of this process, starting with refining text prompts, then developing a complex workflow, and mixing various platforms and techniques. The more you create such a workflow and define parameters, the higher your creative part becomes.”

A month later, Eldagsen took to the same blog to announce his refusal of the prize, asking audiences and judges how many “knew or suspected” the image was artificially generated.

“AI images and photography should not compete with each other in an award like this,” he wrote last week. “They are different entities. AI is not photography. Therefore I will not accept the award.” Instead, he suggested the World Photography Organization donate his prize—$5,000, Sony digital imaging equipment, a trip to the award ceremony in London, and more—to Fotofestiwal 2023, an international festival of photography in Poland.

“I applied as a cheeky monkey, to find out if the competitions are prepared for AI images to enter,” Eldagsen continued. “They are not. We, the photo world, need an open discussion. A discussion about what we want to consider photography and what not. Is the umbrella of photography large enough to invite AI images to enter—or would that be a mistake? With my refusal of the award I hope to speed up this debate.”

The WPO was, it turns out, aware of Eldagsen’s AI “co-creation,” a spokesperson told PCMag in an emailed statement, adding that “as per the rules of the competition, the photographers provide the warranties of their entry.

“The Creative category of the Open competition welcomes various experimental approaches to image making from cyanotypes and rayographs to cutting-edge digital practices,” the organization said. “As such, following our correspondence with Boris and the warranties he provided, we felt that his entry fulfilled the criteria for this category, and we were supportive of his participation.”

But “in keeping with his wishes,” the WPO removed Eldagsen from the competition—including replacing the display copy of “The Electrician” at the exhibition in London.

“We recognize the importance of this subject and its impact on image-making today,” the group says. “We look forward to further exploring this topic via our various channels and programmes and welcome the conversation around it. While elements of AI practices are relevant in artistic contexts of image-making, the Awards always have been and will continue to be a platform for championing the excellence and skill of photographers and artists working in the medium.”

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Kim Ortiz, a photographer and mixed-media artist in the Hill Country Galleria, said she hopes to inspire everyone to do what they love to do.

Ortiz was a certified public accountant before being laid off in 2012; she had been taking photography courses on the side since 2008 and saw it as an opportunity to start a new career.

“It was like a turning point, and I said, ‘I’m going to do what I love,’” she said.

Ortiz then built a new photography studio in Dallas in 2014 and ran a successful business for five years before deciding to move to Austin in 2019; she eventually opened a new studio at the Galleria in January 2020. At the beginning of February, Ortiz relocated her studio to a new spot in the Galleria that she said is “more central.”

“I’ve already noticed more people stopping to look through my windows since I changed locations,” Ortiz said.

Her photography and gallery mostly features dogs; however, she said this is only part of her business as she also photographs families, families with their dogs, headshots for executives and high school seniors.While she does do traditional photography, Ortiz said her specialty is as a mixed-media artist and photographer.

“Mixed-media paintings are my signature product, and I’m the only one in Lake Travis who does them,” she said.

Mixed-media paintings are a three- to four-month process that involve taking the photos, painting the photo in a special software on the computer and then printing the photo and placing it on canvas to paint the photo by hand, she said.

Because the process involved in mixed-media art is so time-consuming, Ortiz only sees around 30-50 clients a year.

“What I do is a luxury,” she said. “But it’s also important because of the story I’m creating.”

Ortiz, who owns six rescue dogs, said she had this revelation when one of her dogs, Lexie, died in 2017.

“Dogs are like family, and they don’t live forever, but if you have a portrait done of your dog, they live forever,” she said.

She said everything she does is about creating a legacy.

“Portraits are all we have of our family when someone dies,” she said.

Ortiz also said she hopes to create lasting legacies through her work and donations to nonprofit organizations. In the last 10 years, she has raised $30,000 for various organizations, and she is working on raising money through her business for the American Heart Association and the Austin Humane Society.

“I’m very fortunate to be here at the Hill Country Galleria because I live here,” she said. “I’m very active in the community, and anyone who asks for a donation, whatever nonprofit it is, I will donate.”

Kim Ortiz Portrait Art

12700 Hill Country Blvd., Ste. S-120, Bee Cave

512-817-4996

www.kimortiz.com

Hours: Tue.-Fri. 1-5 p.m., Sat. by appointment only, closed Sun.-Mon.

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