It’s easy to imagine the text prompt Miles Astray entered into an image-generating AI tool to get his wild photo of a flamingo looking like a headless ball of pink fluff on spindly legs. The photo just won two awards in the AI category of an international photo competition.

Plot twist: Artificial intelligence had nothing to do with Astray’s photo. He shot it with a camera. And that’s why it got disqualified from the 1839 Awards after winning third place and people’s choice honors for AI photography.

The contest, named for one of the most formative years in the history of photography, includes a range of categories: animals, architecture, landscapes, people, photojournalism, still life. Photographers from 55 countries entered this year’s 1839 Awards. Astray submitted his flamingo photo in the AI group to prove that human-generated art hasn’t lost its impact in a world of algorithms.

“After seeing recent instances of AI-generated imagery outshining actual photos in competitions, it occurred to me that I could twist this story inside down and upside out the way only a human could and would, by submitting a real photo into an AI competition,” Astray explains on his website. He saw the shot, titled “Flamingone,” as the perfect candidate for the job “because it’s a surreal and almost unimaginable shot, and yet completely natural. It is the first real photo to win an AI award.”

Judges from The New York Times, Getty Images, Maddox Gallery and the Centre Pompidou in Paris are among those who picked this year’s winners. Right after Astray found out he won on Tuesday, he notified contest organizers that he’d actually shot his “AI” image of a bird scratching its belly with a Nikon D750 DSLR camera, using Lightroom to convert it from its RAW format to JPG and making a few minimal adjustments.

“I don’t process my images much and usually only to correct whatever the camera didn’t capture authentically,” Astray said in an email. “I like to show the world as is.”

1839 Awards co-founder and director Lily Fierman said the organization fully appreciates the message Astray conveyed by submitting a real photo to the AI category. “We agree that it is an important, relevant and timely statement,” Fierman said in an email. “However, after much internal debate, we decided to disqualify his entry into the AI category in consideration of the other artists who submitted their work.”

Astray calls the decision to disqualify him from the competition “completely justified and right,” and added that the organization’s support for his intended message surprised and heartened him.

The photographer, who’s currently based in La Paz, Bolivia, considers himself a creative nomad. He’s worked for nonprofits in Colombia and Argentina and photographed local communities in Latin America, Asia and Africa. He took “Flamingone” in Aruba in 2022, getting up at 5 a.m. to beat the crowds to a beach known as a site of free-roaming flamingoes.

If Miles Astray seems too perfect of a name for someone who travels the world, it is. In an email, the photographer acknowledged that he uses a nom de plume (nom de camera?) and that he prefers not to reveal his real name publicly.

Astray said he had ethical concerns about misleading the jury, and he didn’t take them lightly.

“But I was hoping that these industry professionals and also the audience would find that this jab at AI and its ethical implications outweighs the ethical implications of deceiving the viewer, which, of course, is ironic because that is what AI does,” he said. “I hope that winning over both the jury and the public with this picture was not just a win for me but for many creatives out there.”

Below, you can see the (truly) AI-generated image that won top prize in the category this year.

For better and worse, the creative industry is one of the biggest industries that has been impacted by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). On one end, users are able to moodboard, and many instances, bypass numerous hurdles to realizing a creative thought or brief in a matter of seconds — without the need of rigorous sketches, camera crews or creative collaborations. On the opposite spectrum, it’s been reported numerous times that these machine learning systems are illegally using the intellectual property of millions of artists without consent or repercussion, setting the stage for what many creative professionals fear to be an uncertain landscape going forward.

In April of 2023, an AI-produced image created a storm of controversy when it won Sony’s World Photography Awards. To the company’s defense, it was not aware of the means in which the image was produced — but the fact that it wasn’t able to be detected, signaled the real threat to the future of photography industry. To flip the scenario, photographer Miles Astray recently won the third-place prize for an AI photo competition, but was disqualified when he revealed that his submission was indeed a real photograph.

Astray’s image depicts a flamingo with it’s head is tucked away from the camera, as it stands against a sandy beach with the ocean just creeping in the distance. Entitled F L A M I N G O N E, the artwork is meant to signal the importance of pictures made by humans. He explained further:

“With AI-generated content remodelling the digital landscape rapidly while sparking an ever-fiercer debate about its implications for the future of content and the creators behind it – from creatives like artists, journalists, and graphic designers to employees in all sorts of industries – I entered this actual photo into the AI category of 1839 Awards to prove that human-made content has not lost its relevance, that Mother Nature and her human interpreters can still beat the machine, and that creativity and emotion are more than just a string of digits.”

It should come as no surprise that Astray’s image was disqualified, but the real prize, according to the photographer, was a win “for many creatives out there,” he added. “I won’t go as far as to say that it’s a win for Mother Nature herself because I think she’s got bigger things on her plate; who knows, maybe AI can help her with that, by computing climate change models and the likes.”

Ever since the advent of generative AI, the age-old battle of man v machine has been looking decidedly one-sided. But one photographer, intent on making the case for pictures captured with the human eye, has taken the fight to his algorithm-powered rivals – and won.

Miles Astray subverted the idea of artificially generated pictures muscling in on human photography awards by submitting his own human-made image, Flamingone, to the AI category in a prestigious competition.

The striking image, an orb of pink feathers standing on top of two knobbly legs, convinced a panel of judges to award him third place in the “AI generated” category of the 1839 Awards.

Astray, 38, says he was motivated to break the rules after a spate of AI-generated images winning conventional photography contests. “It occurred to me that I could twist this story inside down and upside out the way only a human could and would, by submitting a real photo into an AI competition.

“Of course, I deliberately chose a picture that is so surreal, to the point of unbelievable, that it could easily be attributed to AI being at play.”

Shortly after the lack of AI involvement became clear, Astray was stripped of his award – which carries a cash prize – and two other creators were awarded the bronze medal and people’s choice award instead.

“AI can already produce incredibly real-looking content, and if that content meets an unquestioning eye, you can easily deceive entire audiences,” Astray said.

“Up until now, we never had much of a reason to question the authenticity of photos, videos and audios. This has changed overnight and we’ll need to adapt to this. It has never been more important to be questioning. That’s an individual responsibility that will be even more crucial than tagging and flagging AI-content.”

In a statement, the competition’s organisers said Astray had a “powerful message” but the photo’s entry was nonetheless unfair. “Each category has distinct criteria that entrants’ images must meet. His submission did not meet the requirements for the AI-generated image category. We understand that was the point, but we don’t want to prevent other artists from their shot at winning in the AI category. We hope this will bring awareness (and a message of hope) to other photographers worried about AI.”

Astray’s victory comes a year after a German artist, Boris Eldagsen, made headlines for winning a Sony World Photography award with an AI-generated image. Eldagsen defended his decision to enter the image, in the “creative open” category, arguing that it was a complex work to create. “The process has many steps, it’s not putting in three words and clicking ‘generate’,” he told the Guardian in 2023.

The Sony judges insisted they always understood that AI was involved in Eldagsen’s image and said it was disqualified for being a completely artificial generation. “We no longer feel we are able to engage in a meaningful and constructive dialogue with him,” the judges said in a statement.

For Astray, the confusion is the point. “If the amount of seemingly real fakes in circulation keeps increasing, it’ll be hard to keep up with what’s real and what’s not,” he said. “I couldn’t live the life I’m living without technology, so I don’t demonise it, but I think its often a double-edged sword with the potential to do both good and harm.”

The legendary Magnum photographer Bruce Gilden will be showing off his favorite images since 1979 at the upcoming exhibit at Fotografiska New York. Gilden’s work has been exhibited in New York many times. But this is something very special. Fotografiska is a dedicated photography museum — and it’s the last major exhibit for them in their current space until they relocate. And if you haven’t made it here yet, you haven’t realized how much magic you’ve missed out on.

All images by Bruce Gilden and provided to the Phoblographer with permission. Check out the exhibit Bruce Gilden: Why These? at Fotografiska, New York, from June 21st, 2024, until the museum closes for relocation between September and October 2024.

Fotografiska New York currently has two whole floors dedicated to Vivian Maier’s works. Gilden will be taking over the Daniel Arsham exhibit, one that I truly don’t feel belongs at the museum in the first place. That means that Bruce will have an entire floor dedicated to his work.

Most of us have seen Gilden’s work online — but we’re truly excited to see how we feel about it when it’s in print at a large scale. Fotografiska typically adds spotlights to each photograph to make it shine in a way that would make the stars look down on the images in jealousy. It’s hard not to have a twinkle in your eyes as you look at them. And Gilden’s work is sure to be something special for many native New Yorkers (like myself) and other admirers of street photography.

Gilden will also speak at the opening, but I wouldn’t expect him to say much. Any time that I’ve seen Bruce speak, I always want more. Even when we asked him about his images during a recent Magnum Sale, he wasn’t very articulate. “…I like it and it still makes me smile,” says Gilden in a short interview with the Phoblographer. “These guys look like twin brothers, and they’re visually interesting.”

What we’re very curious about is possibly seeing some of his work from the pandemic. In our 2021 interview, he said, “Surprisingly, new venues have opened up to me. Not only because of the pandemic but also because of the protests that took place after the death of George Floyd.”

Perhaps Bruce’s lack of speaking more about things has led to some of the criticisms of his work. Joel Meyerowitz has called Gilden a bully in the past — and he’s also said things like “I had to figure out, how do I attack New York City photographically?” These words, however, are typically just vernacular that has been passed on over and over again. And these days, many photographers have worked to speak more from a place of admiration and love than violence. You can especially see this in how Coney Island is covered by street photographers like Erica Reade or Roy Rozanski, for example.

Bruce’s work has also paved the way for so many other photographers. We can see some of his work in Chloe Jafe — especially with the Yakuza. The influence can also be recognized in the street photography Josh Estey, Salvatore Matarazzo, Jens Krauer, and Josh Ethan Johnson. Bruce is also 77 years old, and it might be one of the last times you get to see his work while he’s still with us.

Gilden is also giving a studio tour on Sunday, June 23rd, and you can reserve your tickets on Fotografiska’s website.

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Richland Library welcomes LOOK! Photography Exhibit in partnership with the Family Connection of South Carolina. Visitors to Richland Library Main, 1431 Assembly Street, can take a peek into the lives of children and youth who have a disability or chronic health condition through the art of photography. Each photo includes a scannable code bringing viewers to a story page highlighting the individual in the photograph.

The intent of LOOK! is to highlight the abilities of the person being photographed and to help those viewing the photos to pause, reflect, and see disability in a different way. To create the exhibit, professional photographers from across the state volunteered their time to host photo sessions with more than 60 families who have been impacted by childhood disability or chronic illness.

Customers can visit Richland Library Main to view the inspiring and diverse collection of photos of children from around the state through Friday, July 12. A glimpse of the collection can be viewed online by visiting www.richlandlibrary.com/art.

The Internet has been devoted to cats since its very beginning. We’ve had cat focused forums, cat-themed flash games, art and even a website dedicated to pictures of cats in sinks, aptly named Cats in Sinks. Not to forget about I Can Haz Cheezburger and Nyan Cat. (Look I can’t list them all, we’d never get to the video game part.) The rise of social media has brought us accounts, some with millions of followers, solely focused around someone’s cat. If you’re online, there’s truly no escape from our fluffy friends; ‘cats’ is one of the most searched for terms on Google after all. Thanks to this feline fever, you really shouldn’t be surprised when I tell you about Neko Odyssey – an upcoming game all about photographing cats for social media.

Neko Odyssey is set in a town overflowing with cats – they’re on the rooftops, in shops, wandering about the streets – and it’s your job to photograph them all. Each photo you take is automatically uploaded to an Instagram-esque social media site where you’ll gradually gain likes and followers on your journey to obtain online cat clout. The Steam Next Fest demo tasks you with getting your first 200 followers, and the photography mechanics on display here are quite simple. ‘Walk up to cat, take photo, stroke cat if you feel like it’ kind of simple. There’s no need to worry about lining up a shot or worrying about picture resolution like in other photography-based games such as Toem or Pupperazzi. Despite this, though, I had a great time with Neko Odyssey, because while the art of photo-taking might be easy, finding your subject isn’t nearly as straightforward.

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The cats of Neko Odyssey are not static creatures. They all attend to their own schedules as the day passes – moving around the shops they inhabit, entering or exiting buildings and, in typical cat fashion, sitting in locations your camera has no hope of reaching. If you want to photograph the well-fed grey cat who frequents the tearoom, for example, then you need to visit during the morning, as it will depart when the afternoon rolls around. There’s also a cat lurking behind a hole in a wall on one street who offers three different photo opportunities throughout the day, including the chance to take a scandalous butt picture when it gets stuck!

Sure, you can spend your time taking bog standard ‘cat sitting down’ pictures, but it’s those unique cat pose photos which really rake in followers. However, hunting these cats down requires you to keep track of their locations during different times of the day – and I can easily see Neko Odyssey becoming one of my ‘Notebook’ games as I scribble down where, and when, each feline ends up (especially since you also have to contend with your character’s ten o’clock curfew and stamina bar, which slowly decreases as you run about town). With these additional factors at play, Neko Odyssey’s focus on time management comes to the fore.

You can’t photograph every cat in a single day. No matter what you do, you’re guaranteed to miss something – even if it’s just running back home to see your own cat lying atop a watermelon (I’m not joking). Instead, you’ll need to take a much more considered approach, familiarising yourself with each cat’s routine before you can snap the perfect photo of them. Matters are further complicated when night starts to fall, too. By this time you’ll most likely be running low on stamina and food items to replenish it, but you know what they say… Cats do tend to get up to secretive activities at night, and with the clock slowly ticking towards 10pm, the question becomes: where do you go before you’re forced back home?

I found myself pondering this very conundrum during my playthrough of Neko Odyssey’s Steam Next Fest demo, but even last-minute decisions like this can sometimes yield surprising results. It was 8pm and, since stamina naturally depletes even when you’re standing still, I needed to quickly decide which final shop I’d visit before ending my cat hunt for the day. Even though it wasn’t nearby, I decided to visit the bakery, as I’d been unable to photograph its resident cat earlier as it was hiding under a table. Upon entering, I knew I had made the right decision – the cat had donned a chef’s hat and apron and was rolling some dough. Yes, this does suggest the bakery’s goods are made using unpaid cat labour, but who cares – he has a little rolling pin!

It was this investigative part of Neko Odyssey which I came to love, as it felt like I was being rewarded for remembering and revisiting certain cats. Part of me still wonders whether I even found all of the unique cats and poses hidden in the demo (listen, I’m tempted to just stop this write-up here and go straight back to Steam to find out, I’m that invested in my cat collecting), and I really hope developer Secret Character build on these kind of encounters for Neko Odyssey’s full release, especially since the promise for more complex photography mechanics is present within the demo. I spied tabs for cat food and toys in the inventory menu, for example, suggesting you’ll need to either entertain or bribe future cats for the chance to photograph them.

It’s a shame an aspect of this gameplay wasn’t in the demo, as I think it would have been fun to experiment with – though I am happy it ends with a storyline hint (I hope the cats can talk, I really want talking cats). Still, even though Neko Odyssey may appear simplistic on the surface compared to other, more instantly gratifying photography games out there, its focus on patience and investigative timing is what’s really caught my eye here. I’ll be looking forward to its full release later this year, and not just because I’m a sucker for games with cats in them.

Myths, Secrets, Lies, and Truths: Photography from the Doug McCraw Collection
12th June, 2024 – 13th October 13, 2024
Boca Raton Museum of Art
501 Plaza Real
Boca Raton Florida 33432

The exhibition of 100+ works from the Doug McCraw Collection is an original presentation by the Museum, and was curated by Kathleen Goncharov, the Museum’s Senior Curator. These artists capture moments that transcend boundaries of insight.

Doug McCraw is the co-founder of one of South Florida’s cultural gems: the FATVillage Arts District which is McCraw’s project that promotes creativity, artist residences, exhibitions, research, and education. McCraw loaned these 100+ works from his collection to the Boca Raton Museum, for this new exhibition.

The Boca Raton Museum of Art is located at 501 Plaza Real in Mizner Park, a shopping, dining, entertainment, residential and arts district in downtown Boca Raton (map and directions).

Sheila Pree Bright presents works from her Young Americans series, in which she invited young people, of all backgrounds and in cities across the country, to pose with the flag in ways that felt comfortable (while recording their personal stories of what the flag means to each of them).

Bright wanted this series to focus on diverse young Americans who are new to the voting system, and who are still exploring ideas of what it means to be American. In some ways, this series by Bright may be the most timely of the exhibition, due to the impending elections and the pivotal youth vote.

Bright has appeared in the 2016 feature-length documentary film “Election Day: Lens Across America.” The artist encouraged her subjects to use their own clothing, props and poses to “give them a platform to speak for themselves.”

The artist encouraged her subjects to use their own clothing, props and poses to “give them a platform to speak for themselves.” Bright is often described as a “cultural anthropologist.” She especially wanted to examine the attitudes and values of Millennials/Generation Y, (people born in the 1980s through the late 1990s, most often the children of Baby Boomers).

The photographs in this series respond to negative portrayals of Millennials in our culture. Museumgoers will hear audio recordings alongside each photo, recordings of her subjects expressing their personal feelings toward the flag. 

Spider Martinwas an acclaimed newspaper photojournalist known for his iconic photographs taken during the 1960s Civil Rights movement. Martin’s historic images from the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March documented protests by African Americans demanding the right to vote.

While working as a young new photojournalist at The Birmingham News, Martin captured the historic photo Two Minute Warning (pictured below), showing state troopers about to attack peaceful marchers with batons and tear gas, after the marchers crossed Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma into Dallas County.

The incident was pivotal in the Civil Rights Movement, and is known as Bloody Sunday.

Three of Martin’s photographs from that day in 1965 were enlarged to serve as the centerpiece for this exhibition, providing a powerful large-scale emphasis that expresses the drama of this critical moment in history. They are part of a series of photographs titled Selma Is Now. Martin’s collection contains thousands of photographs, clippings and other notes — much of it previously unpublished before it was acquired by the University of Texas. The producers of the movie Selma used Martin’s photographs to recreate scenes for the film.

From the Spider Martin website ‒ Often the target of violence himself, Spider stayed on the scene of these Civil Rights protests when he could have asked for relief from his newspaper editors. His bosses at The Birmingham News released Martin from his assignment after Bloody Sunday, hoping it would all go away if they stopped publishing his photos. But Martin won out his argument to stay on, and with his camera covered these activities day by day, event by event.

Because of his continual presence in and around Selma, Martin and his camera became easily identifiable targets, despised by racists and public officials whose acts of violence and intimidation suddenly were being exposed. 

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Martin faced beatings and death threats to capture through his lens the most iconic images of a movement which changed a region and a nation. He fought back with his camera, and with photographs that didn’t lie. They appeared in national and international publications and were seen around the world.

Hank Willis Thomas is known for exploring American consumer culture, and the history of how corporate imagery in advertising campaigns showed a lack of respect towards African Americans through the years via print advertisements.

His series investigates the subtle and not so subtle ways in which this influential imagery reinforced ideas about race and race relations. Most of the works in this exhibition are from his series titled Unbranded: Reflections in Black by Corporate America.

The series explores fifty years of ads that targeted a Black audience or featured Black subjects. Ads starting in 1968 (the year of social and political protest and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.), through 2008 (the year when the first African American president was elected). 

When looking at these works, the viewer quickly experiences a mind-twist when realizing that Thomas did not actually take these photos. Instead, he has appropriated the images from outdated magazine pages and removed all of the wording, product names, slogans and logos from each ad, keeping only the original photos. This makes the images stand out even more.

The end result is a re-imagined version of each original ad, showing how white ad executives at the time got away with creating these depictions for marketing campaigns. Writing in The Guardian, the art critic Arwa Mahdawi stated: “Thomas’s work ‘unbrands’ advertising: stripping away the commercial context, and leaving the exposed image to speak for itself.” 

Thomas then pairs a befitting title for each re-imagined work, further underscoring how disrespect, stereotypes ‒ and, in some cases, outright racism ‒ were prevalent in advertising aimed at Black Americans.

Some of his apt titles include: “Slack Power, 1969/2006,” “Now there’s a doll that can make a real difference in her life: Shani, the first black Barbie, 1991/2007,” “Celebrate your Specialness, 1997/2008,” and “The Mandingo of Sandwiches, 1977/2007.” The two years in each title represent first the year of the original ad, followed by the year that Thomas re-conceptualized each image.

Myths, Secrets, Lies, and Truths: Photography from the Doug McCraw Collection opens on the 12th of June, 2024 until the 13th of October 13, 2024 at Boca Raton Museum of Art

©2024 Doug McCraw Collection

Art Plugged is a contemporary platform inspired by a relationship with the broader arts communities. We provide our audience with curated insight into the world of art, from exhibitions to artist interviews and more.

As the use of AI rapidly increases, so does the cautious interest in AI as an art form. You’ve likely heard stories of artificial intelligence infiltrating traditional art competitions, but we rarely see the tables turned – until now.

Entering the controversial world of AI photography competitions, writer and photographer Miles Astray set out to see if his traditional art could succeed in a sea of AI. Not only was the experiment a resounding success, but it also highlighted an ethical dilemma around the controversial creation and celebration of AI art. 

The piece titled “F L A M I N G O N E” shows a striking image of a seemingly headless flamingo in the wild. It received praise from the high-profile jury at the 1839 awards in the AI photography category, even securing the top spot for the People’s Vote Award. Miles’ man-made photography is the first real photo to win an AI award, but what inspired this bold operation?

“I wanted to prove that nature still outdoes the machine in terms of imagination and that there is still merit in real work from real creatives,” Miles explains in an email to Creative Bloq. “I feel bad about leading the jury astray, but I think that they are professionals who might find that this jab at AI and its ethical implications outweighs the ethical implications of deceiving the viewer, which, of course is ironic because that is what AI does,” he adds.

On the topic of AI, Miles says: “I don’t demonize the new technology and see its potential, but currently I see its limitations and dangers even more clearly.”
It’s clear now, more than ever, that we’re in an era of AI anxiety where the future of technology feels uncertain. Miles’ success is a hopeful reminder that humans are still drawn to the simple beauty of nature and that AI can’t replace the innate sense of awe that it brings. 

To see more of Miles Astray’s work, check out his website or follow him on Instagram. For more AI stories, check out the history of AI art (it goes back further than you might think) or if you’re getting a little AI fatigue, check out Pablo Delcan’s anti-AI art generator that’s 100% human-powered. 

Creative Bloq’s AI Week is held in association with DistinctAI, creators of the new plugin Vision FX 2.0, which creates stunning AI art based on your own imagery – perfect for ideation and conceptualising during the creative process. Find out more on the DistinctAI website.

Canon has made some incredible stills cameras over the years, but there is one that stands tall above them all. That is the Canon EOS R5 Mirrorless Camera that is now on sale at Adorama for a record-low price of $2,899 (was $3,399). A $500 saving is substantial considering how great this camera is.

This is a bundle deal that includes a CFexpress card and reader so you can get up and running right away. If you also want to buy the camera with a 24-105mm f/4 L lens, then Adorama has also reduced that bundle by $600 to $3,899.

Today’s best Canon EOS R5 deal

Our Canon EOS R5 review awarded the camera 4.5 stars out of 5, quoting “The combination of a next-generation autofocus system, excellent image quality, and fast 12fps/20fps continuous shooting means this is a camera that is just as comfortable (and capable) in professionally lit studios as it is shooting breaking news stories at dusk.”

In our hands-on test, we also loved the autofocus. It’s eye and subject detection, as well as tracking abilities, are almost second to none. If you’re into animal photography, then you’ll be blown away by the animal detection. If you’re a stills photographer, there really is little not to love about this camera.

Canon makes some of the best cameras and we’ve curated a set of our favorites in our best canon camera guide. If you’re open to other brands, then our best camera for photography is worth a look, as is our best camera for beginners guide, especially if you’re new to the hobby.

SHEFFIELD — Two years ago, Thaddeus Kubis’ photography student mentioned that he and his friends took over 500 photos at his birthday party. Kubis was floored.

“I started to realize, I don’t think my family took 500 pictures in my entire childhood,” he said in an interview with The Eagle.

That led him to write and publish “Photographs I could have taken but did not!” a book comprised of photos related to his youth.

Kubis,