My View of the World through a Lens
My Involvement
A COMMENT
Recently, there’s been an explosion of new AI (artificial intelligence) imaging technologies hitting the marketplace whether they are knowingly or unknowingly embedded in smartphone apps or purposefully inserted into image editing software. No-one can stop the march of technology and most people will use these technologies because they can.
Artificial intelligence now has the capability to create a “photograph” without even taking a picture. Photographer Tomasz Trzebiatowski, publisher and editor of FRAMES Magazine and its YouTube Channel and website, said “By itself, in itself, and within itself, artificial intelligence imagery is not photography. There is no light capture . . . no light capturing process involved in this procedure of producing AI images. So it is not photography.” I agree. Without actually capturing reflected light, you haven’t created a photograph. Just graphic art or CGI.
Obviously, I use technology to capture light then edit and print my photo. However, what I have available to me is not what I use for most of my fine art photography. Similar to the craftsman who creates fine furniture with a minimum of power tools and opts to use hand tools whenever possible, I choose not to use presets or fully automatic camera functions to capture, edit, and print my photos. In my art, I want to have as much control as possible. After all, my work is authentic and an expression of me and not of a software developer and their machines.
Ian Davis
ABOUT ME:
While Campbellford is now my home, I’m originally from St. Catharines (in the Niagara Region). Along the way, I made stops at various points in Northwestern Ontario, Labrador, and then back to Niagara for a few years. From 1988 to the present, I’ve lived alongside the Trent Severn Waterway.
My grandfather was my first inspiration in photography. He would go out and take pictures “just because”. Grandpa spent time in darkrooms, owned many different cameras, had hundreds and hundreds of slides and prints. He showed me what a contact sheet was and talked about darkrooms (he once had a tiny one in his basement). Unfortunately, just as I got started with one of his older cameras (see in the image below), he passed away. But at least he gave me an important introduction.
Throughout the years, I shot photos with various film and digital gear. When I was a bush pilot flying de Havilland Otters and Beavers in northern Canada, I always travelled with two things; a fishing rod and my manual Mamiya SLR. After I left flying and entered university, my photography was put on pause other than for recording family and life events.
Just a few years ago, at the urging of my brother (who gave me his old DSLR and helped me buy a drone), wife and sons (they all thought I had a good eye for imagery), I started working at real estate photography. This quickly branched into videography and fine art photography. The learning curve for both was incredibly steep but I stuck to it and here I am, still learning and still shooting.
Nowadays, I shoot with a mirrorless camera with various prime and zoom lenses spanning 12mm to 350mm. This gives me tremendous flexibility in how and where I can shoot. While my imagery interests are fairly wide, if I had to more accurately define my photographic interests, I’d have to say that it would involve some form of “scape”. But this too is evolving.
Ian Davis Photography
P.O. Box 1119
Campbellford, Ontario
K0L 1L0