About Don Goodman-Wilson

From IKEA catalog photographs to computer games to deepfakes, we are drowning in computer-rendered and AI-generated imagery intended to represent reality in some authentic way. While it is comforting to think that there remains a distinction between the artificial and the authentic, what does that distinction even mean? My photographic practices probes at, explores, and deconstructs the distinction between the artificial and the authentic, prompting the viewer to reflect more critically on the images they encounter daily, and the role that ostensibly authentic images---whether photographic or generated---play in their lives and their decision making.

ISOMETRICA

ISOMETRICA is my first project on this theme. Influenced by isometric-view video games, the project began as a simple exercise in creating interesting photographs of my collection of toy trains. But when viewers assumed my first images were computer renders, I realized that not only is there is there perceived power in being able to differentiate between the artificial and the authentic, but also that we are very bad at doing so.

In this project, I deliberately leverage concepts from the computer game industry to create uncanny photographs. While computer games seek ever-increasing realism, they do so using techniques that deliberately degrade image quality in ways that simulate imperfections in camera equipment. By choosing plastic toys and broken or imperfect photography gear, I am to create images that flirt with the uncanny, that lead the viewer to question whether the image they see is actually a photography, or a very good computer rendering.

Authentic Artifice

My second project on this theme explores the relationship between the media photographic images are captured on, and the perceived authenticity of the resulting works. In the face of a deluge of AI-generated imagery, many commentators have argued that a return to film photography would help create clear lines between authentic photography, and artificial AI-generated imagery.

In this project, I generated a series of AI-generated images around the theme of Santos Populares, the Junes festivals in the old town of Lisbon. I then captured these images onto film, creating an uninterrupted sequence of analog negatives designed to challenge the assumptions that the use of film—or any particular medium—can be used as an indicator of authenticity, inviting the viewer to question the distinction between the artificial and the authentic.

Biography

Don Goodman-Wilson is trained in both computer science, cognitive science, and holds a doctorate in philosophy. Philosophy trains us to uncover and question the hidden assumptions underlying the world and our understanding of it, and Don leverages that skill to pry at concepts we often take for granted through his writing and photography. He has a deep interest in ethics in tech that informs much of his creative work. Don is an avid street, portrait, and still life photographer, and sits on the board of Associação 351 Foto, and is a published essayist with publications on DIYPhotography (here and here) and 35MMC. Don is the creator of Crown + Flint, a mobile app for analog photographers.