Yesterday, DIYP reported that a photographer had won an AI image award with a real photograph. After coming clean about the photo, he has now since been disqualified from the competition and his photo removed from the website.
Miles Astray, a photographer and multidisciplinary artist, entered the surreal photo of a flamingo into the AI category of the 1839 Color Photography Awards. The judges awarded third prize to the image, titled “Flamingone”, and it additionally won the People’s Choice Award.
However, it appears that the competition and judges may have been more disgruntled about the deception than first appeared. Astray has now been disqualified from the competition, and the image was removed from the competition website.
Petapixel reports that the competition organisers said that they disqualified the entry in consideration for the other artists, although they appreciated the “powerful message” he was making.
“Our contest categories are specifically defined to ensure fairness and clarity for all participants,” said a spokesperson to Petapixel.
“Each category has distinct criteria that entrants’ images must meet. His submission did not meet the requirements for the AI-generated image category. We understand that was the point, but we don’t want to prevent other artists from their shot at winning in the AI category.
“We hope this will bring awareness (and a message of hope) to other photographers worried about AI.”
Astray says that he entered the image to spark a conversation around AI image generators and their place in the creative industries. “I wanted to prove that nature still outdoes the machine in terms of imagination and that there is still merit in real work from real creatives,” he says.
He certainly achieved that goal, at least. Honestly, I’m not entirely certain why a photographic award would have an AI category at all. Disqualifying the image seems a little disingenuous, although it is in keeping with the competition’s rules.
This is the first time an actual photo has won an AI award. Prior to now, AI images have won major photographic prizes, causing an existential crisis among photographers and artists of more traditional mediums.
Wherever you stand on the debate between AI and photography, one thing is clear: it’s not over yet!
DIYP reached out to Astray for comment. He says that Lily Fierman, the Co-Founder and Director of 1839 Awards contacted him, saying that she fully appreciates the powerful message and that it is an important and timely statement. “We hope this will bring awareness (and a message of hope) to many photographers worried about AI,” she said.
“I couldn’t have been more excited and grateful to see that the organizers themselves were not actually bothered by my stunt but appreciated and supported the message behind it,” says Astray.
[via petapixel]
