The "new face" of photojournalism.

Images "created by AI" are appearing more and more frequently in newspapers.

"Not a single hair's breadth is wrong."

The "early days" I'm referring to are from over 160 years ago, when a person from Quang Nam witnessed and described the method of creating a photograph in the West.

These descriptions are taken from the posthumous writings of Truc Duong Pham Phu Thu, when he was present in Phan Thanh Gian's diplomatic mission to France and Spain for nine months starting in June 1863.

“First, apply the medicinal liquid to the rim of the glass and place it in the tube; the person standing in front looks directly into the mouth of the tube, and the image of the person will be reflected on the glass by the sunlight, without the slightest error” (“Western Journey Diary”, Ho Chi Minh City Literature and Arts Publishing House - 2000, page 66).

"The photographic method that Mr. Pham recorded when the embassy arrived in Paris (France) on a day at the end of September 1863: 'At that time, the officials were dressed in their formal court attire to go upstairs for a photograph. The day before, Aubaret, the official in charge of receiving the embassy, ​​had reported that the French Head of State wanted to see the embassy's photograph, so the ministers had summoned the photographer to be ready to take the picture…'"

That's all the information about Western photography "techniques" recorded in "Western Travel Diary." Adding more would be observations about Westerners' photography preferences, or stories about subsequent photo shoots to share as gifts...

The three leading figures in the delegation sent to France by King Tu Duc were also among the first Vietnamese to be photographed: Chief Envoy Phan Thanh Gian, Deputy Envoy Pham Phu Thu, and Assistant Envoy Nguy Khac Dan.

Going back nearly 20 years, during the reign of Emperor Thieu Tri, Quang Nam province once "welcomed" a Western photographer who came to take pictures, and this photograph is considered one of the first photographs taken in Vietnam.

Rapid change

Jules Itier's "Journal d'un Voyage en Chine en 1843, 1844, 1845" (Journal d'un Voyage en Chine en 1843, 1844, 1845) includes a photograph with the caption: "Scene of Non-Nay fortress in Dang Trong (Southern Vietnam)".

Jules Itier was a member of the French delegation to China to sign the Treaty of Whampoa. He took this photograph when the ship carrying the delegation made an emergency stop in Da Nang Bay at the end of May 1845.

"The Non-Nay fortress of the Southern Kingdom," the first photograph taken in Vietnam by Jules Itier, was taken in Da Nang Bay.

In fact, Jules Itier took a total of three photographs in Quang Nam province on that occasion: Non-Nay Fortress, Da Nang Bay, and Marble Mountains. However, only one photograph of the fortress is included in his memoir, making it the first photograph of a place in Dang Trong (Southern Vietnam), even though the photograph of Non-Nay Fortress "was not sufficiently exposed, so the image is not clear," as later experts analyzed...

The photograph of the Non-Nay fortress, also known as Fort Two, uses the daguerréotype technique. This was a newly invented photographic technique in the West at the time, where the image appeared directly on a polished copper plate coated with a light-reflecting chemical layer, rather than from negative film.

Over time, the methods of photography gradually changed with successive inventions that replaced one another. From initial materials such as thin sheets of silver-plated copper and iron, or paper and leather coated with light-sensitive chemicals, people moved on to transparent plastic, and then replaced plastic with glass.

By the mid-to-late 19th century, film rolls made of paper and shaped into tubes were introduced, and by the early 20th century, another type called "Safety film" had replaced it…

In Vietnam, particularly during the period from the resistance war and extending beyond 1975, changes were rapid. Many veteran photographers and war correspondents recounted how they had to painstakingly buy individual cans of menthol, hydroquinone, sodium sulfite, hypochlorite, etc., to mix into film developing solutions, and then build darkrooms on boats to transport them to the war zones.

Journalists and photography enthusiasts still relied on film cameras until digital cameras appeared after 1980. Now, smartphones offer even greater convenience, making reporters more versatile in their multimedia work.

And then, artificial intelligence (AI) came into play, adding a new "perspective" to photojournalism.

Technology: Limits and Explosives

"Image created by AI," "image taken by AI"... captions like these are appearing more and more frequently in daily newspapers. An editorial secretary shared that, for sensitive topics like tech scams, staged photos like the perpetrator wearing a black scarf have become tiresome and outdated.

Therefore, to create slightly unique illustrations for articles, AI comes into play. Technicians step in, "commanding" the AI-powered image creation software to perform the desired actions.

An American created a vintage-style snapshot of a house party using AI, which went viral on social media last year. These "artificial" photos, of course, have some flaws, such as distorted shapes. The faces in the photos, which at first glance look real, are actually the result of the machine combining multiple faces.

Many tools are available to assist users, including journalists, if they want an illustrative photo. Methods for creating images using AI are also widely shared by experts.

With the right tools and software (AI image generators), and by providing your ideas (entering descriptive commands), machine learning models will scan millions of images and related text to predict which images are suitable and then generate entirely new ones. Try searching for the best AI image generators currently available on Google, and you'll immediately find recommendations on a variety of methods.

But in one search engine, there was a note that said: "You may use the image but you are not allowed to retain copyright because others may also use this image for their personal or commercial purposes."

Just like illustrative photos that often focus on sensitive topics or pictures of a classic-style home party, all accept the limitations of technology.

To create 15 billion images, it used to take humans 150 years, from the time the first photograph appeared (around after 1826) until the 15 billionth image was created (in 1975). Meanwhile, in just one year, AI models managed to create approximately 15 billion images. This reliable data was recently published by the photography magazine Everypuxel Journal.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/khuon-mat-moi-cua-anh-bao-chi-3136781.html