Photographer Stripped of Award For Submitting a Real Photo in the AI Category

The 1839 Color Photography Contest recognizes exceptional photography in a variety of classes. Recently they added a category for photographs generated by artificial intelligence, the only category that doesn't require a camera. Miles Astray submitted the image above, titled F L A M I N G O N E into the AI category. The picture of a flamingo with its head tucked won the the People’s Vote Award, and also was awarded third place in its category.

Astray's awards were rescinded after he revealed that the image was a photograph he took with a camera! None of the judges, nor the voting public, could tell the difference. Astray said he submitted the photo because he had seen AI images win in competitions that were for photographs taken by photographers. While his awards were stripped, the publicity Astray got for his stunt was far more than the actual winners received. And that was the point, to make a statement about how AI cannot replace human art. Read about this kerfluffle in the world of photography at PetaPixel.