How this shy flamingo became a symbol of photography's future

A contest prank is appreciated for its instinct

Miles Astray’s “F L A M I N G O N E”

Photography was officially “invented” in 1839 with the daguerreotype. The concept of “the mirror with a memory” involving highly detailed reflective images meant humanity no longer needed to rely on painters to visually chronicle events in a fashion that was both inaccurate and stylized. Photography presented a reliable, trustworthy and accurate depiction of real life, thanks to a machine-made process free of the misrepresentations risked by leaning on the artist’s hand. Since then, photographic artists like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen aimed to have their genre of work recognized as a creative art form ever-worthy of painting’s prestige.

The 1839 Awards are managed by Creative Resource Collective, which founded the prize in 2020 to provide resources, recognition, exposure and community for photographers. Staffers from the New York Times, Phaidon Press, Getty Images, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Christie’s, and Maddox Gallery sit on the esteemed jury.

This year, an artificial intelligence category was offered for the very first time: Miles Astray submitted a photograph called “F L A M I N G O N E.” The image of a flamingo from behind showed its neck craned downward, obscuring its head, rendering what appears to be a pink puffball on two spindly legs in a white sandy abyss. It looks like what an image generator might conjure up without regard for accurate anatomy.

The curious aesthetic led it to win the People’s Vote and third place in the Jury Awards. But it wasn’t AI-generated at all. The judges were tricked with what is now known as a “conventional” photograph. You know, the type that would be shot with a camera.

“I entered this actual photo into the AI category of 1839 Awards to prove that human-made content has not lost its relevance, that Mother Nature and her human interpreters can still beat the machine, and that creativity and emotion are more than just a string of digits.”

As a result, “F L A M I N G O N E” was disqualified from the AI category. But the 1839 Awards co-founder and director Lily Fierman wrote to Astray that she appreciates the powerful message sent by this important and timely statement, in these words:

“We hope this will bring awareness (and a message of hope) to many photographers worried about AI.”

The about-face means that we’ve subverted our impression that photography is a harbinger of truth because it is machine-made. Rather, photography has taken the place of what painting was in 1839: human, inspired, creative, authentic.

Champions of art photography have taken great strides to define photography as a reputable art form by finding parallels to paintings inherent characteristics. Turns out, it just needed to bide its time—for 185 years. Photography is being redefined as a human-made creative medium thanks to the invention of new machinery.