AI : Pushing The Imagination Envelope

I've been enjoying interacting with MidJourney almost on a daily basis, alternating between generating "one-off' images and project-related images. The latter requires patience and many tries and retries to get a pseudo consistency in the characters I seek.

I recently stumbled on the lovely work by Marta Contreras Simó, whose AI-generated portraits on her MyLovelyViews, are inspirations, and provided me with ideas that I will continue to emulate as much as I know how. Her Instagram account is here. It's my understanding that she uses her own photographs, blending them in MidJourney to achieve her AI creations.

Influenced by her work, I prompted the above AI-generated image and called it 'The Taxidermist & Her Ravens".

Another of my creations is "The Red Medusa":

And another is one of a beautiful Vietnamese model relaxing on a bamboo chair in Phú Quốc:

And one of an Asian photojournalist at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel:

In the labyrinth of New York City's embrace, A pretty photographer paints moments with grace, A red fedora crowns her head, a vibrant crown, Her Canon camera captures tales of the town, Through her lens, NYC's essence is forever known.

Alicia In Soho'Land

“Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle.”

From oversized bows and teacup-shaped hats to surreal prints and mismatched patterns, the Alice in Wonderland influence can be seen in the enchanting and unconventional ensembles embraced by Harajuku fashion aficionados....such as the lovely Alicia. However, her style is more a combination of various ensembles.

One of the sub-styles of Harajuku fashion is the Japanese Lolita style, which usually involves skirts or dresses at mid-height or longer with underneath big petticoats, and stockings or socks that are fairly long and embellished with lace. As for shoes, Lolita fans usually opt for Mary Janes or boots.

And for larger sized and higher resolution photographs:

ALICIA by Tewfic El-Sawy on Exposure

Kunchok Does Cosplay (Or Anime)

For this new photo session with Kunchok Palmo, a New York University student, I was influenced by the cosplay and anime costumes I saw in the Harajuku District during my recent travel to Japan. Cosplay, a portmanteau (defined as a word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two different words or a "blend" word) of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character.

So a white cosplay wig was ordered from Amazon, adjustments were made and Kunchok wore it with considerable verve. 

And for larger and higher resolution photographs on my website:

Kunchok by Tewfic El-Sawy on Exposure

AI-Generated Images Are Getting "Serious"

I've been indulging the right side of my brain by creating images using the various iterations of MidJourney, the popular AI generating "machine", and I'm amazed by a large percentage of the results.

I don't see AI as a replacement for my photography by any means...but as a supplemental and complemental activity. Generating "fantasy" images such as the one in this post provides inspiration should I want to photograph a model in a coffee-shop in Tribeca or the West Village...not only for the location, but also for the light, the pose, the dress and other intangible aspects. 

And Breaking News: MidJourney just introduced the panoramic option...which will be very useful for story telling:

I've already used one of my AI-generated images to communicate with a Tokyo-based model whose English was very limited to describe what I wanted of her. Just one image and she immediately understood.

Another fun (useful) thing is to use AI-generated images for storytelling. I'm currently working on a story involving a PTSD-afflicted war photojournalist whose visit to Hong Kong resolves (or not) his issues. I've done another audio slideshow story using AI for Edith Piaf...the famous French singer. 

And for more of similar images which could be used to construct visual stories (eg. audio slideshow-movie) :