Was the famous photo entitled sold for 20,000 euros The Electrician which hit the headlines a year ago after winning the Sony World Photography Award competition. The recognition was then refused by the author himself, Boris Elgadsen, who denounced himself revealing how the image had actually been created using artificial intelligencea sort of final evidence of how AI was already able to mislead even professionals in the sector.
As we have told you in detail, The Electrician is a work by the German Boris Eldagsen and belongs to the “Pseudomnesia: Fake Memories” series designed to reproduce a photographic style typical of the 1940s. The shot was created using generative AI and can actually be seen from some details such as the eyes of the woman in the foreground. However, the jury of the Sony World Photography Award had selected it as the best in the Creative category: Eldagsen had personally rejected the recognition, stating how “AI imagery and photography shouldn’t compete with each other in an award like this. They are different entities. Artificial intelligence is not photography. Therefore I will not accept the award.” In short, a work that has written history in its own way and which will be remembered in the annals for having relaunched the debate on what a photograph really is and how far it is accepted and acceptable to push the boundaries of modern creative tools. The sum of 20,000 euros is very high, but it is far from the over 400,000 euros at the auction of what was presented as the first photo created by an algorithm.
The AI responsible for generating images makes the process of creating a photo accessible and almost free, even replacing thousands of euros of equipment (cameras, lenses, filters, stands, lights and so on) and software for subsequent retouching and adjustment of values. All this, of course, net of respect for intellectual property at the time of training and the next generation. And to declare that a creation is entirely digital and not real, perhaps with the help of reliable watermarking and certification tools.
