“Maybe I’m old fashioned but I am just as much in love with the making of the photo as the final result,” photographer Reuben Wu tells the Phoblographer in an interview when asked about AI imagery. “The hiking at night, brunt wind denting my eyeballs, watching the moon eclipse the sun, the passage of time, seeing an image appear after a long exposure, and that ecstatic feeling as the light changes. AI is an awesome tool, but if I could make that same image by prompting, why bother?” For him, he loves the feeling of the finished image and the accomplishment — which hits even harder when you’re working with Mercedes-Benz.
All images by Reuben Wu. Used with permission. Please follow him on Instagram @reuben and check out his website.
While Reuben likes what AI can do, he thinks that human minds create in a totally different way that machines aren’t capable of doing: by using emotional connections. “For example, before I used drones to light mountains, there was no existing visual reference for AI to recreate that from,” he tells us. “It simply wasn’t a thing it could envision, until a human mind made those connections. I acknowledge that nothing is truly original but humans can create in an organic and emotional way that machines cannot.”
We’ve featured Reuben on this site many times for the beautiful art photos he makes. After doing Lux Noctis, the world took notice and started to contact him to do commissions accordingly. He’s always seen those as personal projects that he feels is a truly unique to him — which, again, an AI algorithm can’t duplicate. “Personal projects are also the best way to get new eyes on your work and a chance to collaborate with other creative minds on branded artwork,” he tells us. “I have been extremely fortunate to have had the world’s biggest brands reach out about commissioned work, and to have the resulting imagery look identical to my personal work. Typically there is a stigma attached to commercial work as being completely opposite in ethos to personal work, but for me, it’s just another opportunity to push my personal work in ways I wasn’t able to before (in terms of new locations, producing behind the scenes work, cross media collaboration etc).” It’s truly a rare thing — and something that we know few others have accomplish. In fact, off hand we can only think of Jaroslav Wieczorkiewicz and Brooke DiDonoto.
Like Reuben, these are photographers who are enamored with the idea of making art instead of content. If you’re curious, some photographers see art as something long lasting while the other is to please an algorithm. For Reuben though, the difference is linguistic. “Declaring your work is art and not content is a waste of time and a distraction in my opinion,” he tells us. “It’s totally fine to view your own work as art but don’t get mad when others refer to it as content. Focus on making the work rather than getting frustrated by the word someone might call it.”