At the heart of photography lies a persistent paradox: once considered irrefutable proof of reality, it is now, in the era of artificial intelligence, a fertile ground for boundless creativity. This transformation echoes the digital revolution, which had already stirred waves of skepticism among photography purists. The historic image captured by Josef Koudelka during the Prague invasion in 1968 perfectly illustrates this dual role of photography: both as a witness to historical truth and a tool for personal narration. But what remains of this power when the image can be generated, manipulated, or even completely fabricated by algorithms? The development of software like Photoshop initially weakened our trust in the image, stripping it of its role as a faithful witness to facts. Today, AI pushes us even further by transforming the image into a playground where reality is not only reproduced but also redefined. Historically, photographers, like the pictorialists of the early 20th century, struggled to show that photography was not merely mechanical reproduction but an art form in its own right, capable of interpreting the world. This struggle finds a contemporary echo in the debates about the copyright of AI artists, who claim the originality of their generative creations. The digital age, where images become as ephemeral as they are permanent, pushes us to reconsider the authenticity and testimonial value of photography. The ease of manipulation and infinite reproducibility offered by digital technology leads us to question: what is the essence of an image? Is it its originality, its authenticity, or the emotion it arouses in the viewer? The implications of this evolution are vast. AI, by redefining the very concept of image, invites us to reflect on our relationship with visual truth. It offers perspectives where the image is more than the capture of a moment; it becomes a creation that reflects, distorts, or idealizes reality according to the desires of its creator. Raphaël Enthoven even suggests that sometimes the manipulated image may seem more "real" than reality itself, plunging us into an era where "the false is more desirable than the true." The works of János Déris and their hyper-aestheticizations question this factual reality, making the image an object of desire rather than truth. In this era of unlimited reproducibility, the originality of the work might be less a matter of fidelity to an event than an exploration of what these events mean to us as a society. Perhaps it is time to rethink our relationship with the image, not as a faithful mirror of the world, but as a space for creation and reflection, a fertile ground for dreaming and questioning.

Dimitri Daniloff

 

© Josef Koudelka 

©János Déris