Reworking the Image, Finding the words
“Express Ridge Dairy”
This is the second time I have processed this image, and I like it much better now.
The first version was too dull. The reds were too dark, and the entire photograph had a heavier, more ominous feeling than I intended. It seemed muddy and lacked the clarity I remembered seeing when I made the photograph.
In this new version, the brighter red stands out against the pale sky and surrounding fields. The building feels cleaner and more present. It still has a sense of quiet and isolation, but it no longer feels threatening.
Reworking an image is nothing unusual for me. I may process a photograph two, three, or even four times before arriving at something that feels right. Sometimes I return to photograph the same subject several times, searching for different light or weather, or correcting something I failed to notice the first time.
I have also converted colour photographs into black and white, then later returned them to colour. The way I interpret an image can change with time, purpose, or simply how I am feeling when I sit down to work on it.
A photograph is not necessarily finished because I have processed it once. Returning to an image is part of the work. It is another way of looking.
Lately, I have also been thinking about the growing anti-AI movement, particularly among artists and photographers. I want to be honest about my own use of it. I use ChatGPT.
Since my TIA, writing has become more difficult and tiring. I sometimes struggle to organize words into a coherent piece of writing. Even speaking clearly can require more energy than it once did. Now I often record myself speaking, transcribe the recording, and bring the transcript into ChatGPT. It helps me clean up the repetition, correct the grammar, and organize my thoughts so that the ideas I am trying to express can come through. The thoughts are still mine. The experiences are mine. The photographs are mine. The tool helps me communicate them.
I understand some of the concerns surrounding artificial intelligence, especially when it is used to imitate an artist, generate work without acknowledgement, or replace creative decisions. Those are complicated and legitimate issues. But I do not believe every use of AI is the same or in any way evil. For me, it has become an accessibility tool. It helps bridge the distance between what I am thinking and what I am now able to put into writing.
Perhaps that is not so different from returning to a photograph and processing it again. The original experience remains mine, but I use the tools available to bring it closer to what I meant to say.
Sometimes an image needs another interpretation.
Sometimes words need help finding their way out.
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