Photography is dead. Now what?

The photo below is not AI. I took this photo with a real camera and I edited it for a while. It cost my client about $80 for this photo, and I delivered something like 30 other images along with this one.

The problem is, most people would probably see this image today and instantly assume it was generated by AI. And if it was, it would have cost essentially zero dollars. Is this image really good enough to justify its price point?

Well, details matter. First of all, AI fatigue is real, and if people are on a supposedly professional website to purchase a product, they will lose trust instantly if they realize the content is fake.

Representing your products inaccurately is probably one of the easiest ways to destroy your business. But the problem is, the well has been poisoned now. People may see this and assume it isn't real.

If you look closely at AI images like this one, you'll likely notice something off. Most people won't look closely though.

So what's the solution?

As photographers, it's not time to give up. Real businesses that care about their products and brand will not use AI to represent their products in most cases. They need authenticity to be trusted. Trust building is perhaps the most important part of what brands do.

It's time to rethink what we are actually offering as photographers. We need to offer AI-proof assets. Assets that are CLEARLY real, and immediately recognizable as authentic.

Photography was always about authenticity - capturing people and things in the best possible way.

Now, it's just about taking it a step further. My vision now is to dive into authenticity. Every image has to drip with authenticity. It has to be something a robot just can't do. It has to be intimate, real, close up, personal, textural, raw, all of the above.

THIS is the direction I'm going.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/5bd3ea_dfb3bc32b4814db4bd9edac806b841b3/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

AI can't do this. It won't do this. It's not capable. It won't be. Commercial product photography, food photography, drink photography - photography for brands... it can't be done at this level of detail and complexity with perfect label representation at scale.

So, in short, our work needs to get better. We're competing with a new photographer on the block - one that delivers more volume, faster, more customization, and costs basically nothing.

The only two directions are up and out. I'm trying to go up. This week I'm doing a free shoot for a big beer company because I need something new that is so textural, intimate and real that people will land on it and say: THAT is what my brand needs right now.

It's quite likely that I will crash and burn in this endeavor.

Best of luck.