Last Updated on 02/18/2025 by Nilofer Khan
The world of artificially generated images has been expanding at an exponential rate. In the span of a few years, more and more artists, including photographers, have adapted to the changing technology, raising questions about authenticity and ethics in the long run. As the battle to ditch AI intensifies, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles favors using the technology. The museum is the first educational space that has acquired its first AI-generated image, which will now be exhibited as part of its upcoming exhibition.
According to Artnet, the Getty Museum reached out to acquire an AI-generated image by Costa Rican artist and photographer Matias Sauter Morera. The image in question depicts young Latino men donning blue leather jackets with gold adornments. The two men were created to mimic the “aesthetics” of queer history in 1970s Costa Rica. This was also the time when “pegamachos,” or cowboys, were said to engage in secret rendezvous with young gay men. Sauter Morera, who also identifies as queer, chose to use AI-generated images in his documentary approach to secure the identities of these individuals.
“Pegamachos still exist today, but less and less so. It’s a lifestyle that is clandestine, hidden and cloaked in anonymity,” Sauter Morera told Artnet. Through AI-generated images, the artist aims to question: Would pegamachos have expressed themselves better if the Costa Rican society had a different approach back then?
The upcoming exhibition, which the Sauter Morera is a part of, is called Queer Lens: A History of Photography, and it examines the role of photography in shaping the narratives of the community. In an interview, the curator of photography at The Getty Museum, Martineau, believes that the work will expand the museum’s holding of artworks created by Latin American artists. Similarly, curator and art adviser Hannah Sloan is of the opinion that the use of AI should not “eclipse” the meaning of the work.
However, for those wondering about ethics, Sloan said the museum is not concerned as the artist uses multiple software and “hundreds of commands and choices that take months to perfect.” However, Sauter Morera says these are not photographs but “a creative medium in itself, distinct from photography.”
A quick look at Sauter Morera’s Instagram will show you his photographs of the cowboys, which were used as the inspiration behind his works. And not just that, there are pictures from his visits to Berlin as well as instances from the queer parade. So, even if one wishes to keep the individuals anonymous, they are still being used as inspiration.
Honestly, if the artist wanted, he could have collaborated with Latino men who may be comfortable with a project of this nature and still conceal their identity. An example is an Indian veteran photographer, Gurinder Osan’s work documents the lives of individuals dealing with mental illness. Since India is a country that stigmatizes mental health challenges, the work offers a poignant look at the lives of such individuals without disclosing their identities. There are ways of using masks, focusing on details of the attire, or more so, which could have been experimented on. However, the work more or less appears to have been created for the Western gaze rather than the people of the country itself.
At the same time, Getty could have also acquired the works of other Costa Rican or Latin American queer photographers who continued to be overshadowed in every field. By giving a platform to AI, they are simply buying into the hype that the artwork is part of the future. Remember how everyone thought the same about mirrorless cameras? now, we have the return of compact and analog. Similarly, the AI fatigue will set in, and the only way out will be to pursue purist photography.
Despite Sauter Morera’s intentions, the work has taken a different approach than relying on AI. More so when we think about how photographers are continuously being threatened by corporations such as Getty Images and Adobe. Do I think things may become more challenging from here on? I truly don’t know. However, I know one thing for sure: AI-generated images can never capture the essence of our lived experiences or imagination.