Can AI-Generated Images Truly Qualify as Photography? A Barthesian Perspective

Generative Artificial Intelligence and Photography: if there is one area of controversy in the photographic world today, it is this one.

Are AI-generated images photography? Should they be allowed to be submitted for photography contests? Can they be sold as photography?

Introduction

Mike Johnston recently published a strong opinion on The Online Photographer website titled "AI Imaging is a Pox, a Fraud and a Thief.”

In the article, he states that:

“Photography in its most exalted form and practice is a means of investigating and appreciating the visual world, of commemorating what we are privileged to see; and as such it should have some sort of connection to the real, like a bear print in the woods is connected to the bear, or like a fossil had to be formed by an actual ancient trilobite. It has to have a trace of the real, left by the actual [bold by M|P]. The ligatures that bind it to truth (whether closely or loosely) are an essential and indivisible part of its nature, in the complete absence of which it is not itself. To be "photography," an imaging system, whether analog or digital, either by its nature or by virtue of the way it is deployed by a sentient human being, must respect the lens image, and, through the lens image, report to the viewer of the photograph, in some manner and to some degree, what actually might have existed in the world of appearances.

AI has nothing to do with photography, except as a means of flooding the culture with counterfeits—a flood that is dispiritingly likely to drown once and for all the benefits and the benevolences of the art and the craft we have learned over the years to love.”

The main reason why I agree with him and also think that AI-generated images should not be considered photography is his observation that "To be "photography," an imaging system, ..., must respect the lens image, and, through the lens image, report to the viewer of the photograph, ..., what actually might have existed in the world of appearances." [bold by M|P].

I already mentioned something similar in my blog post, Fine Art Defined, where I observed that:

“The interesting notion here is that, different from other art forms, photography to be creative needs an already existing creation; be this a man made object, a natural object or a living being. Whereas a painter by using the capturing medium (canvas, paint and whatever else the artists decides to use) can create a picture of a vase without an actual vase in existence, and the potter can create a formerly not existent vase by applying his creative medium, without light bouncing off an actually existing vase a photographic image of a vase is not possible.”

I posted that in 2015, long before generative AI was even a thing, and unbeknown to me at the moment, I actually was - in a far simpler way and in blissful ignorance of what this great philosopher wrote about the subject - paraphrasing what Roland Barthes said in 1980!

In his seminal work, "Camera Lucida," (which I only read recently - better late than never, I daresay), Barthes delves deep into the essence of photography, asserting that the uniqueness of the medium lies in its ability to capture the "that-has-been," or the intractable.

He emphasizes that a photograph's referent is the "necessarily real thing which has been placed before the lens," [bold by M|P], and this quality sets photography apart from other forms of representation.

Now, however, in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), we are confronted with a profound question: Can AI-generated images be considered true photography?

Spoiler Alert!

In this essay, I will explore the argument that AI-generated images (I deliberately do not call them photos) do not fully encapsulate the essence of traditional photography defined by Barthes and, therefore, in my opinion, never can or should be called photography.

The Nature of Photography's Referent

Barthes distinguishes the "photographic referent" from other systems of representation, asserting that in photography, one can never deny the existence of the captured subject. He argues that while painting can feign reality without actually having seen it and discourse can combine signs with "chimeras" as referents, photography uniquely captures an undeniable reality. It is this constraint that Barthes defines as the very essence of photography, what he names the "noeme" of the medium.

This noeme is the "That-has-been," signifying the subject's presence before the lens.

AI-Generated Images: An Examination

AI-generated images are products of computer algorithms and neural networks that create visuals without the direct presence of a physical subject. These algorithms analyze patterns and data to generate images that mimic the style and content of photographs.

While they, therefore, can create hyper-realistic scenes and subjects that, at a glance, are indistinguishable from traditionally captured photos, the fundamental question, however, arises if AI-generated images truly can be considered photography in the Barthesian sense.

The Absence of the "That-has-been"

One of the primary reasons AI-generated images cannot fully embody the essence of traditional photography is the absence of the "That-has-been." In photography, as we have seen above, the referent is the physical object or scene that existed in the real world and was captured by the camera. In contrast, AI-generated images lack this referent. They are not tied to a physical presence or a moment that has passed. Instead, they are a creation of algorithms and data, making their referent more abstract, virtual, and devoid of the immediate, undeniable reality that Barthes associates with traditional photography.

The Missing Interplay of Reality and the Past

Furthermore, the interplay of reality and the past, another crucial aspect of Barthes's definition of photography, is absent in AI-generated images.

Traditional photographs capture a specific moment in time, preserving it as an irrefutable "artifact of the past." AI-generated images, on the other hand, do not have a moment of origin in the same way. They are not the result of a subject's presence before a lens, and they do not carry the weight of the past in the same manner. Therefore, they lack the tension between presence and separation that defines photography's essence.

Conclusion

In light of Roland Barthes's exploration of photography's essence in "Camera Lucida," it becomes evident that AI-generated images do not align with the fundamental principles he outlined. The absence of the "That-has-been" and the missing interplay between reality and the past makes it impossible to categorize AI-generated images as traditional photography.

While AI-generated images may be technically impressive and visually compelling - and, in my opinion, absolutely deserve their place in the broad gamma of visual art - they lack the unique quality of capturing the "necessarily real thing." They are not bound to an undeniable reality that has been present before the lens.

Therefore, it is essential to recognize the distinction between photography, which embodies the essence of the "That-has-been," and AI-generated images, which depart from the core principles that have defined the medium since its inception.

Do you agree that AI-generated images are not photography and should not be passed off as such?