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Monday, August 31, 2026

Not Artificial Intelligence

Kira - 25 January 2024

Artificial Intelligence in Photography - My Take
 

When I combine the photographic technology of the last century with this one’s I find that the results can be cutting edge (does anybody use that expression anymore?). I have no patience for artificial intelligence and at my age of 84, happily I will not be around when it takes over the world.

I believe that when Photoshop came into being in February 19, 1990 and a penguin could be placed in the Sahara Desert that was the dawn of AI. At that time only a Polaroid print could be trusted as being an authentic reproduction of something.

I do interesting effects with my Epson V700 scanner with the sandwiching of two or more negatives or slides. I call them “scanner negative sandwiches without mayonnaise”


Negative sandwich of Timothy and Tim Turner - twins


The advent of my use of digital cameras (a Fuji X-E1 and X-E3) has brought the instant look and possibility of using slow shutters. This works beautifully with dance and, so I have discovered, in my studio. Some of my first experiments involved an ex student from Vanarts (I taught there at one time) who more recently posed for me in my little Kitsilano studio.

Béatrice Larrivée

The smallish room has a grey wall where I like to position my subjects. On the opposite wall I have a large Ikea mirror. I like to take my photographs by pointing my camera at the mirror. In this way I appear in the photograph. I call this shaving the barber myself.

The idea that a Polaroid (and now I have  many boxes of Fuji Instant Film which I call Fujiroid) I find that while I can manipulate the peels the results are not AI.



Before the appearance of the scanner we photographers who used Polaroids (in my case with my medium format Mamiya RB-67) we would throw the peels away. Once we realized we could scan them, the results were marvelous. More recently I discovered that if I placed the peel face down on my kitchen marble top I could bleach the black backing and magically I would have a negative. I then scan the negative and reverse it in Photoshop. Above is the result of scanned and reversed Fujiroid peel.

Why use AI? Not me!