Amid the debate regarding the advancement of Artificial Intelligence and possible dominance over human activities, artistic forums debate Boris Eldagsen's boldness in “testing” the important award and raising an important debate.
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“We, the world of photography, need an open discussion. A discussion about what we want to consider photography and what not. Is the photography umbrella big enough to invite AI images in – or would that be a mistake? By refusing the award, I hope to accelerate this debate”, wrote Boris Eldagsen on his website and social media.
The artist has made several publications on Instagram em your site, explaining why he competed for the prize with the image and why he decided not to accept the cash value:
“Thank you for selecting my image and making this moment historic as it is the first AI-generated image to win in a prestigious international photography competition,” he wrote. “How many of you knew or suspected it was AI-generated? Something about this doesn't seem right, does it? AI imaging and photography should not compete with each other for an award like this. They are different entities. AI is not photography. Therefore, I will not accept the award.”
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The artist also posted on his account, on the social network, reports in which the image he created with AI appears among the winners:
After rejecting the award and surprising the artistic class with the revelation, he explained that the work was removed from the SWFA website and from the exhibition in London:
“I went to the SWPA exhibition which opened today at Somerset House in London. My photo also disappeared from the show. There is still no official statement [from SWFA]. No attempt to contact me. Neither in person at the awards ceremony, nor by email or telephone,” he wrote. “Having been a photographer for 30 years before turning to AI, I understand the pros and cons of this debate and will be happy to join the conversation.”
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In an interview with the art website “Riding the Dragon”, Eldagsen explained that he sent several materials to the award selectors making it clear that his work – not just the award-winning one, but several others – was made with AI. However, the award ceremony did not feel it was important to inform the public and other competitors that it was not a photograph.
“They could have used this for so much positive PR. They could have used this to their advantage, and they didn’t,” she concluded.
@curtonews German artist rejects award for image generated with artificial intelligence and says it was a “test” to see if the award was prepared.
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About the photographer and the award-winning photo
Having been photographing since 1989, Boris Eldagsen has called himself a “photomedia” artist since 2000. “After two decades of photography, my artistic focus has shifted to exploring the creative possibilities of AI generators.”
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The work that SWPA chose, according to the artist, is the result of a complex interaction of immediate engineering, internal and external painting that is based on his photographic knowledge. “PSEUDOMNESIA – The Electrician”, was made based on family portraits from the 1940s.
“For me, working with AI imagers is a co-creation, in which I am the director. It’s not about pressing a button – and that’s it. It's about exploring the complexity of this process, starting with refining text prompts, developing a complex workflow, and mixing multiple platforms and techniques. The more you create such a workflow and define parameters, the greater your creative part will be”, he explained.
“I call my images 'images'. They are produced synthetically, using the original 'photograph' as a visual language. They are not photographs”, reiterated the artist.
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