The Synthetic Eye

Photography Transformed in the Age of AI

Fred Ritchin

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Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Thames & Hudson
31 October 2024

Photography & photographs; Artificial intelligence

"The revolution caused by artificial intelligence in terms of what a photograph can and cannot do is profound. This book looks at photography's strengths, what it has meant for individuals and for society, its massive transformations caused by a variety of factors in the digital age, and the newer possibilities for image making. These include old and new media, with an emphasis on synthetic imaging as both a positive and terrifying development.

In 1840, a year after photography's invention, the painter Paul Delaroche exclaimed, ""From now on, painting is dead."" Photography was quicker and cheaper as a representational medium and more realistic, its invention also liberated painters to become much more adventurous, embracing approaches that included impressionism, cubism, minimalism, and abstract expressionism. So too photographers are being challenged today. Many have responded with new strategies, but more innovation is needed. Can photographers be as radically expansive and revolutionary as painters were? Can they preserve or even expand the photograph's role in society as a credible witness? Can the photographic image morph into forms previously unimagined?

The Synthetic Eye is about this transformative revolution. How can synthetic imagery be utilized to amplify our understanding of ourselves and our worlds? Can an alternative photography deepen and expand the medium's previous reach? What are the pitfalls? How will our senses of the real, the possible, and the actual be affected?"

By: Fred Ritchin
Imprint: Thames & Hudson
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9780500297391
ISBN 10: 0500297398
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 31 October 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Fred Ritchin is a writer, educator and photography critic. Currently the Dean Emeritus of the International Center of Photography (ICP) School, Ritchin was also the founding director of the Documentary Photography and Photojournalism Program at the School of ICP. Prior to joining ICP, Ritchin was professor of photography and imaging at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and co-director of the NYU/Magnum Foundation Photography and Human Rights educational program. He has worked as the picture editor of The New York Times Magazine (1978-1982) and executive editor of Camera Arts magazine (1982-1983). Ritchin's previous publications include Bending The Frame: Photojournalism, Documentary and the Citizen and After Photography.