As AI grows more powerful and artificial images become commonplace, the importance of real photography becomes undeniable. Photographs are real. They capture moments that actually happened, places that truly exist, and genuine emotions. Film photography, in particular, is a testament to that authenticity. A negative is a physical trace of light and time.
Photography is not just a way of seeing the world, but it can also be a stand against the false and the fabricated. In a world of AI-generated images, real photographs will rise again because they offer one thing: the truth. Photography reminds us that reality can be documented and that the camera creates a tangible record that AI can never replicate.
Photojournalism is a tool of accountability. When civil rights are violated and authority goes unchecked, the camera documents what power tries to deny. A real photograph is evidence—undeniable and permanent. It forces a record into the public eye that courts and institutions can’t easily ignore. In the face of misconduct, especially from state actors, photography protects constitutional rights by making abuse visible
"Images are always images about something. An image fixed to film that refers to something existing here and now. It is not reality itself but at most emerges from the veritable relationship of correspondence with reality.
Thus, no matter how much an image does not resemble reality, with relation with it, is narrowly retained." - DevelopingTank