The rise of Generative Artificial Intelligence has been nothing short of revolutionary, impacting every domain from finance to the arts. In the world of photography, GenAI has had a transformative effect, much like the impact photography once had on painting.

The Historical Parallel: Photography and Painting

When photography emerged in the 19th century, it provoked a crisis in the world of painting. No longer did painters need to act as the primary recorders of reality; photography could capture a scene with unparalleled accuracy and detail. This compelled painters to introspect, leading to movements like Impressionism, Expressionism, and Cubism. Painters began exploring the more abstract, emotional, and subjective aspects of art, areas where photography couldn’t intrude.

GenAI’s Emergence and Photography’s Dilemma

Today, GenAI poses a similar challenge to photographers. With the ability to fabricate hyper-realistic images, often indistinguishable from real photographs, GenAI blurs the line between reality and artificiality. If GenAI can recreate or even surpass the aesthetic appeal of a captured moment, what then becomes the essence of photography?

From Artifice to Authenticity

The response has been a compelling shift towards authenticity. In an age where GenAI can create realistic and artistic visuals, photography must return to its original purpose as a trusted recorder of reality. Art will be for painters and prompt engineers. Documenting reality will be for photographers. To maintain its integrity and relevance, photography is now being pushed to clearly demark itself from artificial creations. This means that photographers are gravitating towards:

Documentary-style photography: This involves capturing unaltered, candid moments, often with a focus on storytelling. By emphasizing the truth, photographers can offer something GenAI can’t fabricate – genuine human experiences. Think weddings, for example. No one will want GenAI images of the couple exchanging vows.

Photojournalism: Prioritizing truth over aesthetics, photojournalists aim to present an unbiased view of reality, further distancing themselves from the artifice of GenAI. A must for our democratic societies to thrive.

Emphasis on Process: Much like how painters celebrated the brushstroke post-photography, photographers will further highlight their unique processes, equipment choices, and techniques to differentiate their work from machine-generated images accompanied by certificates that verify each step of the process, ensuring it is firmly rooted in reality.

Beyond the Realism-Artifice Dichotomy

The push for realism doesn’t mean there’s no room for creativity in photography. On the contrary, photographers should merge realism with artistic interpretations. Use the “old” medium to explore deeper truths, playing with shadows, compositions, and contexts to evoke emotions and narratives, all while staying clearly rooted in authenticity.

The Future of Photography in a GenAI World

Just as painting underwent a transformative evolution after the advent of photography, so too will photography evolve in response to GenAI. While GenAI boasts the ability to mimic and replicate, it cannot capture the human touch, the genuine intent, or the spontaneous moments that define a photographer’s click. Photography is more than just an image—it’s our connection to the real world, to one another, and to moments that inform our decisions. The next generation of photographers will become masters of probability, documenting reality with certitude. It’s this intrinsic human connection and touch with reality that will forever differentiate genuine photography from AI-generated imagery.

As the lines between the real and the artificial blur, photography’s role in preserving and portraying reality becomes even more paramount. While GenAI forces a reevaluation of the purpose and essence of photography, it certainly doesn’t diminish its value. Instead, it pushes photographers to evolve, to be more discerning in their approach, and to capture the world with an authenticity that only they can provide.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.

About the author: Paul Melcher is a photography and technology entrepreneur based in New York, and the founder of Kaptur, a news magazine about the visual tech space. You can find more of his writings on his blog, Thoughts of a Bohemian. Melcher offers his services as a consultant as well. This article was also published here.

Image credits: Header photo generated with Adobe Firefly

MacBook Pro computers have been the industry standard laptop for many years now. These machines usually cost a small fortune but can be found much cheaper if you’re willing to do a bit of detective work.

We all know Apple products come at a premium, and for some photographers, those price points are just too high. The good news is that with a little bit of Internet sleuthing and some basic computer repair skills, it is possible to get a MacBook Pro laptop for very little money.

This is exactly what technologist Luke Miani does when he hits eBay in search of a working Apple laptop at a rock-bottom price. The laptop he finds is a MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010) model that he paid just $22 for. The video goes on to show Miani testing the machine, installing a hard drive, and updating the operating system to get the laptop back to life. Minus the odd surface scratch, it really is hard to believe this MacBook has been around for 13 years.

In the second half of this video, Miani shows us how we can personally take advantage of eBay’s search filters to find similar bargains and what exactly we should be looking out for in a listing on the auction site. I really like Miani’s tips for hunting out these machines, and a quick look myself found a few candidates at similar price points.

The video does not shy away from the fact this machine is well over 10 years old and shows that for many applications, it is still more than usable. While such an old machine may struggle with some of the more memory-intensive tasks of a photographer in 2023, I do think you may be surprised by how much a laptop bought for $22 is still capable of. The main take-home here is that there are decent laptops out there that could be bought for very little and added to your arsenal of photo gear. One important point that isn’t mentioned in the video is that these older laptops mostly come with various USB, HDMI, and memory card slots that are often missing from newer machines but are still more than useful for photographers on the go. I personally love the idea of having a cheap dedicated laptop for doing some light editing while on location and at a price point that not only doesn’t break the bank but also wouldn’t be the end of the world if it got damaged or stolen.

Would you consider buying such an old laptop for your photography work? Is anyone still using older tech in this way? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

“I think over time you get better at spotting emotions, as well as gestures, compositions, and more because these are the things that you’re constantly looking for; The ingredients of a photo,” says Willie Velazquez, arguably one of NY’s best street photographers, to the Phoblographer in an interview. “I think you may even begin to take in the world in a different way compared to the people around you who don’t shoot.” He continues to state that sometimes, even he doesn’t know what he sees — but it’s a gut reflex to just shoot. Overall, he attributed some of his work to just pure luck.

All images by Willie Velazquez. Used with permission. Please visit his website and his Instagram for more.

How Willie Velazquez Started Out

Willie first started out in sales, and that kept things running for him into the end of his 20s when he was finally making good money. But for him, life became really monotonous and rigorous. “Days melted into each other, and sleep was minimal due to the 5+ coffees I had daily,” he describes to us. “When the coffee lost its effects, I began supplementing. That led to barely sleeping at all during the work week, which I made up for by sleeping in all day on weekends, waking only to eat, and sometimes socialize.” That’s when he realized he was burning out and it was time to try something else.

Growing up, Willie had a lot of cameras but wanted something more professional. So in 2019, he bought a Canon Rebel. “Afterwards I sat outside on a nearby bench, unboxed the camera, turned it on and almost immediately realized I had no idea what or who to shoot,” he tells us.

Willie was a rapper in a past life, and grew up with Hip Hop cover albums as a prime example of photography. He didn’t live that life anymore though, so he went to parks to photography. From there, he shot streets, buildings, and eventually started photographing people. “After a short while, I just started walking around with the camera everywhere I went,” Willie shares. “It could’ve been a 5-minute trip to the store and back; I’d have the camera on me, finger on the shutter at all times. I was in the beginning stages and didn’t even realize street photography was an actual thing yet.” Needless to say, he was hooked.

For a while, Willie shot film: specifically a Leica M6 and an Olympus Mju II. And these days, he’s been using a Leica M10p and a Ricoh GR III. “So far, it’s the longest I’ve gone without feeling the urge to buy another camera, so I’m feeling great about that,” he shares with us. “Depending on the day I’m either shooting 28, 35 or both. I’m really at home with those two focal lengths.” Besides this, he carries a flash.

The Creative Vision of One of NY’s Best Street Photographers

Somebody once told me they didn’t shoot the homeless, the disabled, children nor senior citizens. His work was unremarkable to me, as I’d expect. No life in it. Mostly hip shots and side profiles of people just walking in the street, and a considerable amount of shots from behind a person; portraits of the back of heads. But seldom did he shoot head on. He was dabbling, beginning. We all go through it.

Willie Velazquez

Willie’s thought process and creative vision are fascinating. While many street photographers shy away from photographing the homeless and disabled, Willie tends to embrace it in a way that tells a much larger story than what we tend to see from more green photographers. Part of this perhaps comes from his upbringing.

Instead, Willie tells us that he shoots without restrictions. And in many ways, his images tell a story of NY that isn’t being told. It’s one with economic disparity at the root. “…if there’s any consideration to be made, it’s in the curation of my work and what it is I choose to share,” Willie explains. “But when I’m outside and shooting, it’s mostly a reflex to what I see and the feeling it evokes, whatever that feeling may be. To put a restriction on that is not being true to the soul of the work.” In the long run, Willie thinks that it more or less just became a reflex.

Can’t speak on the professional implications since photography is yet to be my main source of income. But as far as AI itself I’d be more curious to know once it’s got a uniform, hive-minded opinion on the human race. But when it gets to that, photos will probably be the last thing to worry about.

“And morally speaking; is it really any better to treat any demographic like they don’t exist and make the effort to not include them in an art form I put my heart and sweat into?”

Of course, Willie’s work is also quite raw, and not the type of stuff that you’d ever see an AI duplicate. To that end, Willie thinks that AI is fun and that people are making some remarkable visuals with it. “There’s a series of Steve Harvey running from monsters in the woods that looks like they shot it on a Polaroid I think,” he says. “I can’t get enough of it.”

In “Louisiana Lens: Photographs from The Historic New Orleans Collection,” John H. Lawrence skillfully weaves a captivating visual narrative of New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf South.

Lawrence traces the evolution of photography from daguerreotypes to digital, contextualizing each image within the social and cultural fabric of the city. He explores themes of architecture, music, race and more. Accompanied by 131 black-and-white and 44 color photographs, the hardcover volume is a testament to Lawrence’s encyclopedic knowledge for visual culture.

Its price is $49.95 and may be purchased online and in person at The Shop at The Collection, THNOC’s museum store.

– The Historic New Orleans Collection

• Delightful dogs in all shapes and sizes are captured in this year’s photography awards that had 1,400 entries 

By Summer Goodkind

Published: 09:34 EDT, 4 November 2023 | Updated: 09:49 EDT, 4 November 2023

The results are in for the 2023 Dog Photography Awards – and the shortlist includes everything from a Doberman in a tutu to a Sighthound showcasing its formidable speed.

The delightful collection, which is sure to put a smile on your face, is split into four categories; accepting entries for portrait and landscape snaps, action shots, studio images and dogs and people.

There was a grand total of 1,440 entries this year, from more than 50 countries – including China, Germany, Australia, and Canada – and this year’s prizes vary from photo equipment to €2,000 in cash.

This year the prize for winning studio portrait was awarded to Montenegro-based photographer Anna Averianova for her image ‘Ballerina’, which shows her pet Doberman dressed in a black tutu and pointing his paw like one of the elegant dancers.

Taking the top spot in the action photography category was Jacqueline Rüdiger, from Germany, for a shot of her Sighthound in ‘Stop your motion’.

She said of her work: ‘Have you ever seen a dog, or even better a sighthound, running in pure joy? You see the power, the play of the muscles and the perfect anatomy for running fast. 

‘In this picture I wanted to show the speed of this dog and capture it, but at the same time freeze the motion to show the anatomy of this beautiful dog. 

‘To get it you need a perfect timing of all components involved. The dog, the lights and for sure me as the photographer. The result is a stunning composition reduced to the only important thing, the dog.’

Bagging the prize for best portrait and landscape shot was Swedish photographer Sanna Sander, who submitted a photo of her pet azawakh girl Soleil sprawling across a log stack.

Aptly titled ‘Ascending Serenity’, she explained: ‘In the right light even the most mundane place emits magic.

‘I had the idea of this image in my mind for quite some time, driving past the log stack every day on my way to drop the kids of at school. And finally, on our way home from school one day, I stopped the car and asked my azawakh girl Soleil to hold the pose for a moment while I took the photo.

‘Already in the camera I saw that it had become something more than I had hoped for; a moment of clean stillness in the busy and messy everyday life, something more than a posing dog on a log stack. The image made me linger in the moment.’

For the dogs and people category, Australian Mercury Megaloudis took her inspiration from Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio.

She used the ‘New and the old Inspired by Caravaggio the artist and new trends in steampunk with the love of dogs all in the studio’ for her work. 

Other winning photos from this year’s competition included a ‘man’s best friend’ posing alongside a man in a suit with an umbrella on the beach.

In another adorable snap, three weeks old Great Dane puppies cuddled up together under a warm studio light.

The competition is held annually, with other contests for dog photographers taking place on a monthly basis.

Audrey Bellot, DPA Founder said: ‘The Dog Photography Awards has once again showcased the remarkable talent within the world of dog photography. 

‘Witnessing emerging artists capture the essence of canine beauty with their stunning imagery remains the standout event of the year.’