ARTIFICIAL – AI Photography/Art Portrait Collection

Note: In the short time since I began this collection, a couple months, AI models have improved considerably. I didn’t really get better at AI. AI got better! Therefore, I will not be adding new prompts to this collection anymore. I want that aesthetics to remain consistent with where AI was when I started this journey. I hope you enjoy.

In this collection, I explore AI-generated Portraits that attempt to mimic or imitate photography. Yes, you read that right, AI Portraits straight from the bot’s mouth.

As a photographer, I wanted to create a collection of AI Portraits that challenged perception. How close could I get to photography? How close could I get to awakening the artificial soul?

OK, yes, I did engage in some light contrast edits or minor fixes. For a few of them, I employed photoshop to get the aesthetic I was after but nothing too crazy. It’s mostly just the AI and my fluffy word prompts.

This was a fun experiment for me. If you are looking for conversations regarding AI, the good, the bad, and the controversial, please see this post: AI Photography – Exploring AI-generated pictures.

Collection: ARTIFICIAL

Artificial is made up of 5 unique Series within the collection. You can find the series listed under attributes in each individual piece’s metadata. This collection also contains a significant amount of poetry I wrote within the descriptions. You will have to discover that for yourself.

Series: Someone Else’s Memories

This Series consists of 4 images as if captured from a life I never lived, that you never lived, or did we? If not, whose memories are these?

Series: Human Qualities

Human Qualities is a unique series within the collection focusing on the following 5 Human Qualities: Empathy, Grief, Loyalty, Passion, and Perseverance. It’s also the only series where each image comes with a unique poem.

Series: Don’t Send Me Flowers

Don’t Send Me Flowers is a series that focuses on romance turned sour. The images represent the rejected and unfaithful. Caught up in a love affair they come to seek redemption and beg for forgiveness. The poem represents the female’s response to this dead arrangement of feelings. Don’t Send Me Flowers!

Series: Springtime of Anxiety

Springtime of Anxiety is a series about anxiety. This series also contains a poem that stretches across two images. The Poem starts with “In Bloom” and continues on with “Disintegration Anxiety”

I want to say that when I started with AI and this collection I started with the goal of creating art that imitated photography. Remember, I wanted to create a collection of AI Portraits that challenged perception. How close could I get to photography?

But, as I delve deeper into experimenting with AI, I find myself drawn to the endless possibilities. I find myself drawn to creating the impossible, or at least extremely challenging. I know some of you are like wizards with the camera but something like “Disintegration Anxiety” would not be easy in-camera.

Impossible? Maybe not, but my next and final series is impossible. There I said it, prove me wrong and I owe you a drink!

Series: Abnormal Psychology

Someone else’s memories
Almost human qualities
Artificial flowers
In the springtime of anxiety

Well, it’s interesting that this collection began as “How close I could get to photography” and ended up here. I mean, I guess the pull to entertain the “weird”, dark and near impossible was too much. Could this be done with photography? Is it impossible? Maybe not but I would need to be a special effect artist to do it in camera. Otherwise, I’m deep into photoshop which is another great tool by the way, I’m not opposed, at all.

This is probably my favorite of the series as I was able to express my thoughts visually and in my opinion, the results are powerful. Here, the garden of thoughts seems to be taking over.

The Garden

You may have noticed a theme, the garden. Flowers, a field, the garden. This type of imagery and wording is present throughout the collection and represents the space in which our feelings, memories, and lives play out. The Garden of Yesterday, The Garden of Plight, The Wicked Garden, etc. In which garden do you play?

This experiment has concluded.

My mission when I started this #aiphotography collection was to see how close I could get to photography and awakening the artificial soul? Since that short time ago, I’ve improved a little at using AI, BUT AI has definitely improved a lot! And it’s only been a minute.

If I was to complete this same experiment today, just a couple months later, the results would probably blow me away. I mean, in my experiment, the eyes are still a easy giveaway. But, just like one day, AI-hands will be a relic of the past, so will be these unrealistic eyes.

I will not be adding new prompts to this collection anymore. I want that aesthetics to remain consistent with where AI was when I started this journey. I do have a few old prompt results I may add to this collection at some point but we shall see.