It asks us to pause, look closer, and find meaning in what actually unfolded in front of a lens.
AI images feel different.
Not because they lack quality, but because they're untethered. They can appear true without being witnessed. Coherent without being anchored to a specific moment, place, or presence.
That's the emotional dissonance:
A photo carries a trace of time. "I was there."
An AI image carries a trace of possibility. "This could be."
Both can be powerful. But they move us in different directions.
Photography frames reality.
AI reimagines it.
As these two visual languages converge, I believe the emerging literacy isn't just about how an image looks, but what it's connected to.
August Sander, Young Farmers, 1914
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