A market town in the middle of England is currently home to an exhibition that journeys audiences through the history of art and photography, and beyond, including a thought-provoking glimpse into the mediums' AI-dominated future.
Community Portrait is an exhibition delivered by Bedford Creative Arts in partnership with Fujifilm UK. The event features the work of a wide range of local artists and photographers, including school children, college students, community groups and professional photographers.
The gallery comprises over 200 portraits of local residents aiming to form a community portrait of the Bedfordshire town, while presenting a timeline of photography techniques – from 19th-century glass-plate processes, right up to the digital revolution and artificial intelligence.
A particularly interesting part of the exhibition uses AI to form a whole new image from the description of a real photograph, with the results projected onto a wall, so visitors can compare how the two stack up.
Arnab Chakravarty, a digital artist whose AI work is featured in the exhibition and will be helping to deliver a symposium at the venue, with collaborator and fellow artist Fergus Laidlaw, told BBC News, Bedfordshire: "There is a lot of hype around AI - everyone is talking about it.
"It's like the Wild West, we don't have set standards.
"People should question what they are seeing, ask questions and be aware of the whole problematic nature of it."
Indeed, with AI-powered tools headlining the latest Adobe releases and advanced AI algorithms spearheading modern autofocusing systems, there’s no denying that AI can be a force for good. But it’s also proven an extremely contentious topic within the photography industry over the past couple of years, thanks to ethical concerns as to how AI constructs 'unique' images and how AI images stack up in photography competitions.
Community Portrait launched on September 28 and will run until February 23 2025.
