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The Synthetic Eye
Photography Transformed in the Age of AI
Fred Ritchin
£20.00
An essential investigation into the murky ethics of AI, one that calls into question the future of photography
See InsideOverview
Artificial Intelligence is driving a fourth industrial revolution and, as The Synthetic Eye shows, the centre will not hold.
How can we believe or trust the images we are being shown? What role do photographers, the media and technology companies have in upholding the authenticity of photographs? Can synthetic imagery be utilized to enhance our understanding of our world?
A revelatory roadmap of today’s image universe, The Synthetic Eye explores how Artificial Intelligence has fundamentally transformed our sense of the real, the possible and the actual. Arranged into seven distinct chapters, it interrogates AI’s engagement with history, how it has changed our understanding of reality, and the positive opportunities and dystopian scenarios that lurk beneath the surface of artificially generated images.
Reviews
'A fascinating insight into the changes facing photography. Through deep research, historical and contemporary examples, and examples of AI imagery, Ritchin provides a roadmap to a new world of imagery'
Digital Camera World
Product Information
Book Details
Format: Paperback
Size: 22.9 x 15.2 cm
Extent: 240 pp
Illustrations: 88
Publication date: 27 February 2025
ISBN: 9780500297391
Contents List
Introduction
1. Exiting the Photographic Universe
2. Synthetic Dreams: A Portfolio
3. Witnessing the World
4. Alternative Photographies
5. Authoring the Image
6. Of Peace and Healing
7. Psyche and Spirit
Conclusion
1. Exiting the Photographic Universe
2. Synthetic Dreams: A Portfolio
3. Witnessing the World
4. Alternative Photographies
5. Authoring the Image
6. Of Peace and Healing
7. Psyche and Spirit
Conclusion
About the Author
Fred Ritchin is a writer, educator and critic. Currently the Dean Emeritus of the International Center of Photography (ICP) School, he was previously professor of photography and imaging at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He has worked as the picture editor of The New York Times Magazine (1978–1982) and created the first multimedia version of the New York Times newspaper (1994–95). He was nominated by the Times for a Pulitzer Prize in public service in 1997 for Bosnia: Uncertain Paths to Peace, a non-linear online photo essay that he conceived and edited. Ritchin's previous books include In Our Own Image: The Coming Revolution in Photography (1990), After Photography (2009) and Bending The Frame: Photojournalism, Documentary and the Citizen (2013). He continues to teach and lecture widely.
