Carl De Keyzer made his name by capturing very real photographs from the Soviet Union, India, and the Belgian Congo. However, for his most recent project, De Keyzer swapped the camera for artificial intelligence imaging tools.
Putin’s Dream is a collection of AI-generated pictures depicting Russia under President Vladimir Putin published in book form. De Keyzer tells PetaPixel that the inspiration for the images comes from his previous photo projects in Russia: Homo Sovieticus (1989) and ZONA (2003) as well as media stories about the war in Ukraine.
“In 2021, I wanted to start a new project about the new Russia under Putin. 20 years and 40 years after my last visits,” De Keyzer says. “COVID and the war prevented that. At first, I shelved the project but after a while thinking that AI might give me a chance to create the project in my head, I gave AI a try”
The Belgian photographer says at first he was “not very convinced” with the technology, but he kept at it and after a few months things started to improve.
“I didn’t want to create a new style for this book. The images had to look like my photography, at least as much as possible,” he says. “I can say I achieved that, my way of looking at the world as a photographer is in the book. That took more time than expected, AI can be tricky to train. But I see it as another tool to achieve new images and allow me to travel in my head.”
De Keyzer used some of his old images of Russia to train the AI model he was using: Midjourney. He says training the AI to generate images that look like his old ones was the hardest part of the project.
“With AI, selection is everything. On Midjourney, every time you get four results, you have to choose one image that again generates another four images,” says De Keyzer.
“[It’s] important is that you know where you are heading, otherwise you always get very random images. You have to know your angle on the subject before you begin. Upscaling the images to printable sizes is another process, with little to no Photoshop involved.”
There is this almost automatic negative reaction to anything related to AI.
There is this almost automatic negative reaction to anything related to AI.
Backlash
De Keyzer says when he first announced the book, his Instagram filled up with negative comments because of his use of AI.
“I understand that some people were surprised and felt betrayed or something. It’s an experiment for me too,” he says. “But I already had a certain reputation and of course, people compared it to my other work.”
De Keyzer is a well-known photographer having joined Magnum Photos in 1990 and later became a full member in 1994. One week after De Keyzer’s post, Magnum released a statement on AI-generated images.
“Magnum Photos respects and values the creative freedom of our photographers,” the statement reads. “However, our archive and distribution system will remain dedicated exclusively to photographic images taken by humans that reflect real events and stories, in keeping with Magnum’s legacy and commitment to documentary tradition. Synthetic images will not be included in our archive.”
De Keyzer is not the first established photojournalist to use AI: respected photographer Michael Christopher Brown also turned to the technology for his 90 Miles series about the realities of Cubans attempting to cross the 90 miles of ocean that separate Havana from Florida.
When asked if AI imagery exists in the photography realm or if it is something else entirely, De Keyzer says, “All I know is that my experience as a photographer helped a lot in generating those images.”
ABC News Australia reports that some of De Keyzer’s critics say Putin’s Dream could contribute to misinformation.
“Some are almost too real and too photographic and could confuse some,” he concedes. “But a trained eye can still see the difference. It was never my intention to deceive anyone. I said from the start that this is AI. There is also this almost automatic negative reaction to anything related to AI. Strange.”
De Keyzer questions why he has to keep using the same technique, adding: “At the age of 66 I don’t see me going to Congo for 10 months again or stay in Siberia for eight months. It’s of course not photography but not something entirely different. I enjoyed working on it very much.”
Copies of Putin’s Dream may still be available here. More of De Keyzer’s work can be found on his website and Instagram.
Image credits: Photographs by Carl De Keyzer
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