Making collages with photoshop was a big step in understanding the power of the program. As a group, we used a set of source images we took to test the ability of Photoshop to automate, and took a manual attempt at creating another collage. Though it did the best it could and was a good starting point, photoshop could not match the vision or end product a human touch could accomplish. I think the physical collage was the best overall, because we as the group had full control over where we wanted to go. Working from scratch offers possibilities and ideas that are hard to see when you are given something partially finished to work off of.
David Hockney has issues with Photoshop because he feels the individuality of photos has been removed. The more you can tweak and touch photos up, the less real and more similar edits can look. As photo editing lets people chase an ideal aesthetic, all photos begin to show evidence of this similar finish line. However, I see photoshop as a tool to allow for images that aren’t possible to be created. To me, photoshop can be a toolbox and studio in the same way a sculptor’s room and instruments are.
To me, creativity is the ability to act on a feeling. Anyone who acts on a vision has the ability to create something unique and important. Creativity is objective to the point that someone cannot tell another they aren’t creative, as long as they had an idea and produced something from it. In the discussion on whether AI can be creative, I do not believe so. AI can only execute on things they have been taught, and cannot have a vision or feeling to express. AI can still be very helpful to an artist, but as yet another tool to be utilized. All authorship belongs to the one using the tool, not the tool itself.
Photoshop’s automatic collage from source images
Our manually edited version of the automatic collage.
A physical joiner-collage made from the same source photos our group took.