That time a local gallery owner told me my prints were 'ethically complicated'

I was at this little art walk in Austin last month, just showing some of my photography prints like I always do. A gallery owner walked by, looked at one of my surreal edited pieces, and asked if I used AI for the background. I said no, it was just Photoshop layers, but she said it didn't matter because the textures looked 'soulless' and people assume it's AI anyway. She literally told me to put a disclaimer next to my work or she wouldn't even consider me for future shows. Now I feel like I have to explain every single brush stroke just to prove I'm a real photographer. Has anyone else run into this kind of accusation out of nowhere?

3 comments

3 Comments

harperp243h ago

Three years ago at a small show in Portland, I had a woman ask if my black and white street photos were "filtered through an app" because of the contrast. I had spent hours in the darkroom dodging and burning those prints manually. The thing that gets me is how people have started treating any polished digital work as suspicious just because AI exists now. We are in this weird spot where being good at Photoshop is almost a liability instead of a skill. You might try leaning into the process by posting a timelapse of your editing layers on Instagram to show the work behind the image.

evan54342m ago

Man, I read this article about how even darkroom photographers are getting accused of faking it now.

emma_baker611h ago

Oh that line about "polished digital work being suspicious" really hits home. I had a similar thing happen at a craft fair in San Antonio where someone asked if my landscapes were "AI generated" because I had cleaned up a distracting power line in Photoshop. It took me like ten minutes to explain the healing brush tool and they still looked at me like I was lying. The part that gets me is how people used to compliment that kind of careful editing as good craftsmanship, now it feels like you have to hide your skill level just to avoid the accusations. That timelapse idea is solid though, I might actually try that myself since it shows the real work without having to defend every pixel.