Photography once changed fashion, but now fashion is changing photography, threatening to make it obsolete.
Fashion campaigns were once based on sketches and drawings until photography replaced both art forms as a faster and more realistic way to create images. Now, however, computer-generated imagery (CGI) is challenging both the convenience and profitability of photography.
The fashion industry is moving beyond physical reality. Retailers like DressX sell exclusively digital clothing. There are digital-only modeling agencies like Diigitals. Events like fashion week are moving to the Metaverse. Even Marilyn Monroe has been revived as a virtual model to showcase the latest digital fashions from Balenciaga, Miu Miu, Balmain and other high-end brands.
If you’re familiar with the hyper-realistic 3D portrait work of artists like Sefki Ibrahim, it takes little imagination to see how celebrities, models and other public figures will one day have their digital avatars engaged in image capture campaigns on their behalf.
Photographers don’t have the tools to participate in that future because digital photography isn’t as digital as it seems. Based on human models, physical clothing, and real locations, photographers create compositions and then capture reflected light from those objects onto a camera sensor.
Creating images of the future requires a process where photographers hire digital models, download digital clothing, and import digital locations to compose, customize, and light all directly in an image to achieve the same result. Let’s call it Digital Photography 2.0.
Digital Photography 2.0
Until recently, the problem was that CGI wasn’t realistic enough to challenge photography. However, it is a matter of a couple of years before the results become imperceptible.
At Sane Seven studio, we wanted to test how close we were to the future of digital photography 2.0. Our criteria for creating a basic fashion campaign were that a) no CGI skills were required; b) it would take less or the same amount of time to create the images as conventionally; c) lighting options would be similar to using photographic lighting.
Currently, there is no software developed specifically for this purpose. It is not possible to hire models like Diigitals or clothes like DressX to use a software that meets all the criteria. As a compromise, we chose set.a.light 3D with DressX clothing applied afterwards to create some basic mock fashion campaign images inspired by Mario Testino’s 2016 Burberry shoot.
At first glance, these images have ‘fooled’ many creative directors we showed them to and equally scared many more photographers who realized what it meant for their careers. However, upon closer inspection, many eagle-eyed viewers would point out its many flaws. But this is only the beginning.
We can fear or embrace this future. Fear will leave you in the hands of CGI artists. Accepting it means leaving the cameras to find and develop the tools that can replicate the satisfaction of photography as closely as possible.
The advantage of this process is that, unlike traditional digital images, the models in the image will move, makeup, hair, and clothing will be updated at the click of a button, and the environments, lighting, and Camera angles will change without limitations. . With advances in AI technologies, we may even see the return of a defining moment in capturing a model that will move around the scene in unpredictable ways.
Is it ‘real’ photography?
Some will argue that the image will never be the same as the ‘real’ photograph, but here are three arguments against it.
First of all, a work of art in photography is the image, not the process through which it was created. In digital images, there is no difference between a digital pixel created by light from a sensor and a pixel created with a computer brush. It’s the same bit of information, whether it’s digitized by shining a light on a sensor or drawing a line with a tablet pen.
Second, traditional fashion campaigns are so doctored that they no longer represent what was captured with the light of a digital sensor.
Third, mirrorless adopters already use digital screens and viewfinders to compose the scene. The only difference is that the model in front of the camera is a physical human rather than a digital file.
As an artist, I don’t look forward to it, but as a sensible artist, I urge everyone to keep their hearts and minds open to stay ahead of that innovation.
About the Author: Sane Seven is an award-winning duo of portrait and commercial photographers working internationally on assignments ranging from fashion legend Jimmy Choo to heads of state including Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. The duo are a regular contributor to The Sunday Times with an interest in future technologies. In 2020, Sane Seven used a remote controlled robot to create a social campaign for The Women in Data in the UK. In 2021, Sane Seven received gold at the New York Photography Awards and an equivalent accolade at the London Photography Awards in 2022.
Source: news.google.com