Viewed together, these works examine the complex and often unsettling relationship that exists between technology, creativity and identity. Guided by award-winning portrait photographer Madeleine Waller, the students were invited to explore self-representation in an age where digital tools and generative AI make anything possible. Beginning with traditional photographic techniques, the students experimented (some reluctantly) with generative AI, exploring the use of prompts, background manipulation and digital add-ons. The resulting imagery demonstrates how AI can stretch and distort reality and reveals the algorithmic bias within the AI image generating system.
Throughout the exhibition, sound recordings capture the students’ firsthand reflections on their experience of AI. These sound notes reveal their mixed emotions – anxiety, anger, frustration, curiosity and uncertainty – offering the listener insight into a generation learning to evaluate, adopt, or reject rapidly changing creative tools.
portrAIt is not simply an exhibition about photography and artificial intelligence. It is an exploration of human creativity at a defining moment of technological change, where photography, digital innovation and individual responsibility converge to challenge our understanding of the artist’s role in society.
