Artist declines prestigious photography prize; says he entered AI-generated image to spark 'debate'

Artist declines prestigious photography prize; says he entered AI-generated image to spark 'debate'



A German artist has declined a prestigious photography prize, saying he entered the AI-generated image in order to spark debate, the Independent reported.

"I applied as a cheeky monkey to find out if the competitions are prepared for AI images to enter. They are not," German artist Boris Eldagsen said in a statement on his website about Sony's World Photography Awards.

"We, the photo world, need an open discussion. A discussion about what we want to consider photography and what not. Is the umbrella of photography large enough to invite AI images to enter – or would this be a mistake?"

"With my refusal of the award, I hope to speed up this debate."

Eldagsen was named the winner in the creative open category in a press release on Sony's website dated March 14.
The organization described his entry, titled "Pseudomnesia | The Electrician," as "a haunting black-and-white portrait of two women from different generations, reminiscent of the visual language of 1940s family portraits."

Pseudomnesia is another name for a false memory. In this case, perhaps the title of the work is itself served as a quiet allusion to its creation not by way of traditional photography, but by way of artificial intelligence.

SWPA told BBC News that Eldagsen "misled them about the extent of AI that would be involved." The artist has challenged that statement.

"AI images and photography should not compete with each other in an award like this. They are different entities. AI is not photography. Therefore I will not accept the award," Eldagsen's statement said.
"They had so many options to use this for good. They used none of them. Instead they refused to answer my questions, the questions of the press, the questions of concerned photographers."

Tuesday, In an update to his blog post about the controversial entry, Eldagsen published a scathing, open letter to the SWPA/Creo alongside a chronology of events leading up to his declining the organization's prize.

In the letter, Eldagsen accuses the the organization of ducking press inquiries about his entry until the "international photo community took up the issue on social media."

"So stop saying 'we were looking forward to engaging in a more in-depth discussion on this topic' – it is wrong," Eldagsen wrote, citing a number of interactions with the organization.

Eldagsen says he applied for the prize in December and was informed that he had made the short list on January 13. On March 2, he received word that he had won. On March 3, he replied, telling the organization of his artistic focus on the "creative possibilities of AI generators," and suggesting that Sony might take up the topic as a panel discussion."

"Since I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings here, it is important for me to explain in this email the background of the image you have chosen in as much detail as possible," the quoted exchange with the organization said in part.

In his post, Eldagsen notes that his image and name were removed from the SWPA site. A search of the World Photography Organization's website conducted by TheBlaze yielded zero results for "Eldagsen" and zero results for "pseudomnesia" Tuesday morning.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The Grammys’ Embrace Of LGBT Politics And Satanism Isn’t Just Gross, It’s Boring

My boredom with Hollywood has officially become stronger than my disgust.

DC public school teacher who applauded China's COVID-19 response receives 'History Teacher of the Year' award



Caneisha Mills, a D.C. Public Schools teacher who once praised China's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has received the honor of becoming the district's "History Teacher of the Year."

Mills' Hardy Middle School biography states that her goal in the school is "not to 'just facilitate schooling,' but she hopes to instill students with the skill of interpreting 'facts' from the past to critically assess current events."

"This," the biography continues, "she believes is true education."

What are the details?

On Wednesday, the D.C. Public Schools' Twitter account announced Mills as the district's history teacher of the year.

The district tweeted, "Congratulations to Caneisha Mills of @HardyMSHawks for being named the 2021 DC History Teacher of the Year! Ms. Mills has done excellent work supporting her students and the teachers of the district more broadly, and we're thrilled to see her recognized for her efforts."

According to a Thursday report from the Daily Wire, Mills works with the Zinn Education Project, which is an educators' organization that aims to "[promote] and [support] the teaching of people's history in classrooms across the country."

The organization is named after Howard Zinn, well-known socialist thinker and political activist.

Mills earlier this year, the outlet reported, wrote a tribunal for the organization in which she asked students "who's to blame" with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The missive began, "By March 13, the last day of in-person classes in Washington, D.C., I had moved all desks in my classroom six feet apart and encouraged students to remain calm, use hand sanitizer, have empathy for other teachers and students, but to take precautions.It was clear to my students, who live in every region of the city and are overwhelmingly students of color, other teachers, and the entire staff at Hardy Middle School that the coronavirus, coupled with a lack of response or preparation, would change our lives for the unforeseeable future."

Mills said that she'd originally planned to "complete a culminating group discussion on the Indian Removal Act," but she knew that the current events at the time took precedence over the activity.

"I ... knew my students were being inundated with more articles, graphs, and research on the pandemic," she continued. "Xenophobia was also on the rise as people across the country used racist language to describe the coronavirus."

Mills said that she had her students take a survey shortly thereafter about the class's subject matter and proclaimed that 54 out of 60 students in her class said that they wanted to have a "tribunal on who's to blame for the crisis in the United States."

According to the Daily Wire, "defendants included racism, capitalism, and the U.S. government" among others.

"The tribunal ... also offered praise of the Chinese government for its handling of the virus," the outlet added. "Mills' lesson plan also presented an argument that applauded China for its handling of the coronavirus. She claims that China took 'exactly the measures that a government should take in times of crisis.'"

Mills also reportedly claims that China "donated tons of medical supplies" to the United States.

She said, "I wanted to ... point out that the capitalist system was behind the pain, trauma, isolation, and destitution [my students] were facing. Capitalism, racism, and the U.S. government left us to die."

The exercise, according to Mills, was inspired by the Black Panthers.

Mills concluded that her students said that they "wanted to put Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and all members of the federal government in jail" for what they said was a mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Congratulations to Caneisha Mills of @HardyMSHawks for being named the 2021 DC History Teacher of the Year! Ms. Mil… https://t.co/e35YXcVbG4

— DC Public Schools (@dcpublicschools) 1626896940.0

Golden Globes Juror Says Bombshell Reporting On Black Lives Matter Movement Is ‘Hate Speech’

Golden Globes juror Patricia Danaher claimed to a person voicing anger over the firing of Philip Berk reporting she doesn't like on BLM is "hate speech."

The Oscars go woke, introduce racial quotas for awards

As everyone goes completely insane over diversity, equity and inclusion, the Academy would have felt left out if they didn't install their own racial morality clauses.