Photography has evolved and those who dedicate themselves to it are responsible for doing so as well, through the mastery of more modern cameras and the use of artificial intelligence (AI), agreed the lens artists Iván Macías, Daniel Ojeda, Fernando Aceves, Roberto Chile, Sunny Quintero and Ricardo Valencia, head of marketing for Digital Image at Sony, during the Mexico-Cuba Photographic Meeting.
In the discussion on the Current State of Photography, moderated by Daniel Aguilar, participants reflected on the transition from film to digital format, the use of AI tools, strategies to remain current, as well as the challenges to come for this art.
The Cuban documentary filmmaker and photographer Roberto Chile (Havana, 1954) defined photography as “a blank canvas where I am going to paint life as I see it, real or imagined. For me, photography is everything that is capable of transmitting.”
Regarding technological changes, he considered that “we can never deny advances. We have to use them for the good of humanity, and photography, with the digital age, has evolved a lot.”
The Mexican Iván Macías agreed that “photography adapts to the times and forms; we have to change with it.” “I think that you do have to adapt, even if the movie is fashionable, when doing journalism, it no longer works due to issues of immediacy,” added Daniel Ojeda.
In his speech, Ricardo Valencia, from Sony, highlighted that “photography is more alive than ever. It has not died, it has only evolved; we have to do it with it.”
He recalled that technological advances have made it possible to take images that were previously unthinkable, such as those in the documentary The Earth at nightwhere animals were filmed in total darkness with a Sony Alpha 7S camera.
“Before, it was impossible to record animals at night due to technical challenges and the lack of sensitivity of the cameras. Today, thanks to this generation of 7S cameras, we can observe the animals in their nocturnal behavior,” he explained.
Valencia also shared the anecdote of a photographer who sought for two decades to capture the moment when a Kingfisher’s beak touches the water. “He tried it for years, and with a Sony camera he achieved it on the first day. Technology offers tools that did not exist before and that expand creative possibilities.”
The specialist highlighted the advances in underwater photography. “The sensitivity of the new cameras allows us to record deep ocean scenes that were previously impossible or unaffordable.”
Digital work, but with an analog philosophy
Photographer Fernando Aceves stated that “a correct way to develop photography today is to work digitally, but with an analogous philosophy: to think that we have a film with 36 exposures in the camera, and to think about each shot.” He warned that one of the problems of the digital format is the indiscriminate production of images, “it is shot without analyzing and less and less thought is given.”
For her part, Sunny Quintero, who also spoke out in favor of mastering new digital and AI tools, highlighted that it is always possible to return to the origins by using film for documentary purposes or alternative techniques such as cyanotype.
“In recent years, the filmtherefore I believe that we always return to the origin,” he concluded.