Two very different versions of Austin's downtown. As seen from the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge.

 

Camera: Leica SL. Lens: Panasonic 20-60mm. Focal length 20mm.

Camera: Panasonic S1R. Lens: Panasonic 24-105mm. Focal length 24mm.

I'm reading more and more about generative A.I. and it doesn't sound like a good thing for the vast majority of working photographers. Especially portrait photographers. It's not an existential dilemma for hobbyists, fine artists and all the folks who love the process of taking photographs but are not dependent on making money from their craft. Critics can dismiss the samples they've been shown on some websites as "fake" or "inferior" but I've seen some really convincing images and I would suggest that we're already seeing a workable quality in computer derived portraits even though these are the very early days of the new applications of A.I. in photography. 

On one level I really care about the incursions into the business side because it would be nice to eke out a few more profitable years doing the kind of work I really have enjoyed over the last 40 or so years. This revolution in imaging might not affect the very highest levels (Annie Leibovitz? Platon?) of photographers but for most others it will mean a significant devaluation of hard won abilities, talents and marketable products. 

On the other hand I'm somewhat insulated from the coming financial carnage by dint of being so close to exiting the commercial markets altogether. What does the generative A.I. onslaught have to do with me personally? With the exception of denting my self-identity as a portrait artist and reducing opportunities for easy billing, not much. In fact, I am so confident that taking images will continue to be fun and fulfilling that I ordered yet another lens to play around with. It should be here mid-week. It's the Nikon mount version of the Voiglander Ultron 40mm f2.0  SL IIS lens. I've been buying the DSLR/Ai Nikon mount version of some lenses like this one because the mount is so easy to adapt to any of the mirrorless cameras. And the selling price of the lenses in this mount are much less expensive than the M versions because the rangefinder coupling, which is expensive to implement well, is not needed or (obviously) included on the Nikon F mount versions. Yes, the adapter makes the lenses a bit bigger but on a relatively large Leica SL camera it hardly matters. 

I had the thought this morning that when all the cost efficient, bottom line focused businesses have fully accepted A.I. assisted or created portraits of their staffs, and all the landscapes are being rendered by Mid-Journey and DALL-E, that perhaps authentic human-made images, seen and captured with human thought, might become more collectible and have more intrinsic value to collectors and appreciators of photography. Also, the theatrical act of the portrait session might become more valuable as an experiential indulgence. An elite and economically lofty investment. One never really knows that much about the future. That's why it's so hard to predict accurately.