Isometrica I
We are drowning in computer-rendered and AI-generated imagery. It is comforting to think that there remains a distinction between the “artificial” and the “authentic”, but what does that distinction even mean?
In a world now overflowing with computer-generated imagery, with IKEA catalogs filled with realistic but ultimately fake renderings of homes, with video games seeking an ever increasing sense of “realism”, with the proliferation of large language models and the resulting deepfakes and propaganda, I can’t help but wonder what “authenticity” even means anymore. What is a photograph? What is a computer-generated image? And what, if any, is the difference between them? And when does uncanny cease to be uncanny?
But what if we turned these questions on their head? Can we create photographs that viewers would swear were computer renderings? This is the question that drove me to create this series of studio photographs. By studying the means by which digital artists create “photorealism” in their renders, I seek to create deliberately uncanny photographs that read as digital art.
Through playful experimentation, I create images that ride the narrow border between photographic and computerized. Every image is, of course, created with a camera and lens, and in many cases with film also. But every image should ask the viewer whether they believe it to be so.
Through these experiments, I seek to understand the factors and criteria that separate the canny from the uncanny, the “authentic” from the “artificial”, the analog from the digital.
This first series focuses on toy trains, very plastic things with a recognizable glossy shine, placed on monochromatic backdrops, all aimed at enhancing the feeling of looking at a computer screen. Also, I collect and treasure these tiny models trains, and found that photography is a delightful medium to share that love.
The Crowds Will Soon Arrive (left). Closing time. You don't have to get on board, but you can't stay here (right)
New Trunk Line (left). Like a Bridge Over Real Water (right).
Colophon
Body: Fujifilm X-Pro3
Lens: Vintage Vivitar Close Focusing Auto Zoom 100-300mm f/5, with cracked element.
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