When an exhibition called We Are At War opens in northern France, visitors will be stunned. It brings together many of the D-Day images shot by the famed war photographer Robert Capa on the beaches of Normandy in 1944 and believed to have been lost due to a disastrous processing error in the lab back in the UK. Scenes of close combat, of the terrified and the dead, of the bloody mayhem are revealed for the first time.
Or, at least, that’s how it will look until visitors exit the show—when it will be revealed that the brutal and harrowing images have, in fact, been created by the artist Phillip Toledano using AI. Only those with a nerdish knowledge of military history are likely to have not been fooled.
“People need to understand how easy it is to the manipulated by AI now,” says Toledano, who worked with AI on his previous series of more obviously altered, often surreal images, Another America. “We’re at a cultural hinge point in relation to being able to trust what we see now, one that only a small demographic—academics, journalists, media—seem to [be] talking about. But you have to be fooled by AI first to get what’s happening. I want regular people to see this show, enjoy it and then realise how easy it is for them to be lied to [by imagery], to realise that they’ve been had—because we’re going to live in a constant state of being had now”.
Toledano concedes that the ability to manipulate images has been with us since the invention of photography. The iconic 1860 photograph of Abraham Lincoln, for example, is actually the president’s head on someone else’s body, some trickery deemed necessary at the time because newspapers lacked a sufficiently "heroic" image of him. Between 1917 and 1920 two girls created an international hullabaloo with what they claimed were their photos of fairies at the bottom of the garden—the photos had Arthur Conan Doyle, inventor of Sherlock Holmes, convinced. Stalin would have his comrades-turned-class-traitors airbrushed out of photos following their execution.
More recently—well, in 1982—National Geographic courted controversy with a shot that moved two Egyptian pyramids closer together so they fitted better on the cover. And tools the likes of airbrushing and Photoshop have been widely used in publishing—to tidy up many a Hollywood cover star, for example—since the early '90s. The difference, he contends, is that using these tools requires time, money and expertise.
“But AI represents a quantum leap in what can be done and the speed with which it can be done, and it’s only going to get better and faster,” Toledano says. “To make convincing images of soldiers in battle on a beach would have required huge skill and resources. AI can give an image a new depth of truth. And it’s getting better all the time. You could sense with images generated using earlier AI that something was a bit off. You don’t sense that now”.
We Are At War
Planches Contact at the Deauville Photography Festival
Indeed, recent years have seen instances of an image generated using AI winning a photography prize—only to lose when the artist revealed his methods—and a jury disqualifying an image from another photography competition for being AI-generated when it wasn’t. Both entries require skills to produce. But the jury is not alone in its confusion. A study by psychologist Dr Sophie Nightingale of the University of Warwick, UK, suggests that just 65 per cent of people—not much better than chance—are able to identify whether an image is "real" or AI-generated. What’s just as concerning is that, in a second study, participants typically found images of AI-generated people more attractive and trustworthy than those of real people.
We do seem to be at a tipping point, at least in terms of attempts to deliberately mislead. A research paper released this year tracked misinformation trends, analysing some 136,000 fact-checks back to 1995, and found that AI-based imagery accounted for very little of them—until spring of 2023. What happened then? The democratisation of accessible generative AI tools. And an explosion in unreal imagery.
But this is not just about AI. Importantly, what’s also changing in our relationship with imagery is the way that AI-generated and other imagery is disseminated: the digital realm in which we now exist—the Internet, and social media especially—means that it’s everywhere, almost instantaneously and with little time to make an assessment—compounded by being viewed on the small screens of our cellphones—before it goes viral.
Such is the pace of the dissemination of these images that, the Brazilian intellectual Vilem Flusser argued, we no longer bother to decode the scenes in them as signifiers of the world. Rather, now we experience the world as a series of scenes. If it isn’t captured as an image, it did not happen. Hence the rise of holiday destinations and restaurants, now chosen for their Instagram appeal and the enduring popularity (and ceaseless narcissism) of the selfie.
That’s given us the likes of Kim Kardashian saying—seemingly without any self-judgement—that in the short spell of a four-day holiday in Mexico in 2016 she managed to take 6000 photos. Of herself. Maybe she was right: Flusser also argued that the more images are produced of a particular person or event, the more socially or economically relevant that person or event becomes.
But why have we ever trusted photography, privileging it as a source of realism—relative to, say, a painting, through which the artist is assumed to have interpreted what they have seen? After all, for all of its claims to being more "real", black and white photography is obviously anything but. Twentieth-century philosophers the likes of Guy Debord have often pointed out that images actively shape our perception of reality by manipulating visual representation, while Jean Baudrillard argued that contemporary society is saturated with simulations that blur the lines between reality and representation. With his famous aphorism, Marshall McLuhan warned that “the medium is the message”.
Flusser even argued that there was a world before and after the invention of the camera because it completely changed our collective understanding of events, despite his contention that a technical image—one produced by a machine like a camera and seen as a machine, with framing, composition, filters, depth of field and so on—can never be an objective representation of reality even as it offers the illusion of being just that. Rather than help us get to the truth, it stands in the way, the images it creates further detaching us from the real world.
Of course, we rarely take the time to consider all this when presented with an image, even while using software—the likes of the AI-based Facetune and other image-editing apps—to routinely doctor images ourselves. We like, we share, we scroll on, we reflexively snap away and then use whatever tools we can to perfect before we publish.
Indeed, perhaps we are somehow already beyond the idea of photography as truth. Toledano argues that while it had a dual purpose as art and as reportage from the outset, that distinction is now breaking down. Perhaps, he proposes, photography—pioneered only around 150 years ago—represents just a brief moment in human history when a medium was granted a role as some kind of truth-giver, and now that moment has passed. We’re back, in effect, to pre-photography times, when it was accepted that every image came slanted with a point of view, that every image was in some sense art. Does that mean we need to find something to be the new arbiter of the truth?
According to Bryan Neumeister, yes, because while fake images have been found to have a negative impact on our well-being—especially given the way less-than-flawless teenagers regard themselves—and deepfakes of a naked Taylor Swift may upset her fans, AI-manipulated pics are increasingly creeping into places where the effects can be profound, into journalism and the courts.
Neumeister, through his Detroit-based company USA Forensic, is one of the few independent experts in digital forensics, called to make an assessment of imagery around the world. He’s busier than ever. It was USA Forensic that was asked to be a rebuttal witness in the acrimonious Jonny Depp-Amber Heard court case, in which both sides claimed that images presented as evidence could not be trusted. Are hostage images from an ongoing conflict real? It’s likely those wanting to know talk to Neumeister, who will dig down into the image’s hexadecimal data—the electrons to binary data’s atoms—to find out.
“AI imagery has its weaknesses and doesn’t do some things well, like eyes and hands. But you have to know what you’re looking for and the problem is that, apart from obviously artistic images, the average person has no way of telling if an image is real or aims at deception and has been generated using AI,” says Neumeister. That’s especially the case when it’s been uploaded to social media because then ownership goes to the host and useful data is washed from it.
We Are At War
Planches Contact at the Deauville Photography Festival
“AI already means more people can fake images and do so very well, even if we’re not there yet for professional-standard images,” he adds. “But the emphasis there is on ‘yet’. In just six months it will be much better. I’ve seen some remarkably convincing fakes. That means AI imagery is a dangerous weapon when you know people don’t have the time, motivation or ability to check whether what they’re seeing can be trusted. I get news networks sending me photos and asking ‘Is this real?’ because they don’t want to get sued. But finding out takes time and they’re up against deadlines”.
Heavyweight news organisations the likes of Reuters have already been caught out publishing images that proved to be doctored, with many—flabbergasted and outraged—issuing a ‘correction’ regarding photos of Kate Middleton and her family earlier this year after the future Queen of England was found to have lightly tinkered with them on her laptop. In academia, doctored images have been used to fabricate research results.
But when the right image—even when that image is wrong—can change the course of a national election, or justify military action, we’re in deep water. In 2004, John Kerry’s US presidential nomination bid was scuppered when a doctored photo of him sharing a stage with anti-Vietnam War protestor Jane Fonda was widely shared. Now something similar could be knocked up on an iPhone and go global in minutes. Indeed, last year a mostly innocent but faked photo of Pope Francis looking very street in a white Balenciaga puffer coat was commonly believed to be real.
These kind of faked images can have lasting resonance too. Several studies over the last 20 years have shown how easy it is to use doctored images to implant memories. In one, participants were shown photos of real events from their childhood, with one doctored to show them on a hot air balloon ride that never happened. When interviewed some time later, half of them remembered the ride as if it had. Doctored images of public events—protests, for example—have been shown to change the way participants later recall the events.
Meanwhile, the very ubiquity of such fakery is corrupting because it allows people to claim any real image to be fake—to play on the sense of unease and mistrust that AI image generation is creating. Alondra Nelson, a sociologist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, US, speaks of “the liar’s dividend”—that suddenly no information is deemed trustworthy—and the cost of that in terms of, for example, holding public officials to account. “I think over time we [will] be much more sceptical [about all imagery we see]. And that’s not good for social cohesion,” she warns.
No wonder that some have proposed that any AI manipulation should be listed within an image’s metadata as standard—and, indeed, earlier this year the EU passed landmark AI regulation rules forcing AI companies to label fake images. Others have proposed all AI systems come with guardrails that prevent them from creating fake news images or have called for the certification of images through the use of so-called watermarks—a kind of technological stamp that would authenticate an image as real or flag up that it’s been manipulated by AI.
We Are At War
Planches Contact at the Deauville Photography Festival
But, Neumeister worries, this inevitably leads to some kind of arms race of tech—“not just to detect where images have been manipulated but to improve how they can be manipulated”—each trying to keep ahead of the other. Philip Toledano leans towards concern rather than confidence too.
“Some people are still very priggish about AI pictures, saying they have no soul. But that’s just not true. Show the images from We Are At War to a photojournalist and they see that they have a power, an emotion. And if images generated using AI can move you as much as ‘real’ photos can, then guess what comes next? People are going to use that to negative ends. Either we’re going to have to get used to being fooled by imagery or get to the point where nobody will care”.
But for all that younger generations especially appear to embrace image editing with few concerns—to the point where the final image bears little resemblance to reality—Nelson argues that this stands them in good stead. “I don’t think that they care less about the truth. [It’s more that] the way they use this tech seamlessly gives them expertise and a sense of what fakery is possible,” she says. They know to be alert to fakery in a way that older generations perhaps do not.
“Fakery has always been the norm. It’s as old as human culture,” she adds. “We’ve lived through shifts before in terms of different kinds of visual reproduction so I think in the course of time society shows resilience. There’s always a transitional moment when it seems that truth has been cast to the wind. But we develop the ability to discern—to pause and pose the question ‘Is this true?’ We’re just going to have to figure out how to take that pause. We didn’t do that five years ago. But now it’s do that or get duped. And nobody wants to be a dupe”.
We Are At War will be at Planches Contact at the Deauville Photography Festival until 5 January 2025. A book of the work is out now.
Fashion model, world traveller, photographer… there seems to be an endless list to what Zsombor Hajdu does. The accidental model who was first scouted when he was 18, began transitioning into photography, capturing a fascinating life of a modern nomad making stylish stamps around the globe.
“Photography is a medium where I can best express myself. Scouting for editorials—like in the Canary Islands last year—is one of the things that I enjoy doing. I held my first solo photography exhibition, 10 Months of Alchemy, in Bangkok and I’m extremely proud of that.”
“Travelling to different continents, meeting and working with interesting individuals, have influenced me in the best ways possible. I’ve not only learnt a lot about different cultures and visited incredible places; travelling has provided me with new interests and a constant flow of creativity.”
Photography: Zsombor Hajdu
From 15 to 21 April 2024, Moncler transforms the Milano Centrale railway station into a spectacular creative hub. The station will turn into one of the world’s largest galleries with an immersive exhibition titled An Invitation To Dream.
“Dreams are what have been moving myself and Moncler forward since day one, because we never stop dreaming about what is possible, and how we can inspire and be inspired by others around the world. Always aiming to not only do new, but to do better,” says Moncler chairman and CEO Remo Ruffini.
Curated by Jefferson Hack, the theme of the exhibition heeds closely to the brand’s values. An Invitation To Dream is filmed and photographed by Jack Davison, and features a lineup of visionaries that are the cultural leaders of today. They include Daniel Arsham, Dr. Deepak Chopra, Isamaya Ffrench, Laila Gohar, Jeremy O. Harris, Francesca Hayward, Julianknxx, Ruth Rogers, Ruffini, Rina Sawayama, Sumayya Vally, and Zaya.
“The curated community represent some of the finest creative visionaries across culture who dare to dream for us. They are today’s reality-shapers and they were invited to participate as their work carries with it new hopes and possibilities. It’s the deeply transformative aspects in their work and practice that makes them essential artists of our time and essential for us to bring into this project,” Hack explains.
Without a doubt, the station is one of the city’s busiest travel hubs. But not only that, it also represents the pivotal moment for those daring enough to pursue their dreams. Billboards and screen-based advertising sites featuring imageries and quotations from the artists stand amidst the station's bustling environment. These large-scale text pieces and slow-motion portraits serve as powerful yet silent invocations. An Invitation To Dream celebrates those who embody passion and belief.
Arsham tells us more as he reflects on the concept of dreams and manifestation, and how it might help him in his creative processes. From childhood inspirations to the subconscious realms where ideas germinate, Arsham's narrative offers a glimpse into the inner workings of a visionary artist.
ESQUIRE SINGAPORE: Do you consider yourself a dreamer? Are you a dreamer?
DANIEL ARSHAM: Yeah, I believe in the power of manifestation. When I was younger, I didn't fully grasp this concept or its reality, but looking back, I see how I've manifested many opportunities in my life. For instance, when I applied to Cooper Union, I wasn't accepted initially, but I kept pushing for it until it happened. Similarly, working with Merce Cunningham was a dream I actively pursued.
ESQ: You have a lot of notebooks and that you sketch a lot. It's interesting how dreams often start in the mind before taking tangible form. How do you document your process of manifesting ideas? Do your dreams directly influence your work?
DA: There's that 5- to 10-minute period right before you fall asleep where you're kind of in between sleeping, lucid dreaming, where you're partially in control of the vision that you're having in your dream and part of it's taken over by your subconscious. And you can’t differentiate what’s real and what’s imaginary. I often find inspiration in that liminal state right before sleep. There are moments, especially during air travel, where I enter a state between wakefulness and sleep, and ideas emerge. I rely heavily on note-taking and sketching to capture these fleeting thoughts.
ESQ: It's interesting how much our subconsciousness can help recontextualise the conscious mind in a way it can be a freer space. You know, you have an idea, you sketch, you look at ideas, but then when you're in that kind of dream world, you're able to kind of rethink things, or things are presented to you without bias.
DA: Yeah. Ironically, I sometimes do this thing to document an idea where I'll text it to myself. I woke up the other morning from a dream and saw this text I wrote to myself and it said, "Have you ever woken up out of a beautiful dream 30 minutes before your alarm, and you really just want to get back into that dream? Make your life feel like that."
ESQ: Creative flow and dreaming share similarities in their meditative nature. Do you experience a flow state while creating?
DA: Yeah. My studio practice feels like capturing an existing idea rather than inventing one. The idea behind it has already passed. So it's about capturing an idea rather than implementing it. I don't know how exactly to say this, but when I'm painting, It's almost as if the idea is kind of already there and I'm just finding it. Does that make sense?
ESQ: So are you able to kind of paint and not think about what you’re doing? How would you describe that, that feeling of being in a flow state?
DA: I've been making paintings now for 30 years, and I've gotten into a process that almost feels, I wouldn’t say mechanical, but it's very regimented. I know exactly where all of my paint is, the types of brushes that I like to use, and I've refined all of that, even down to the point where I only use a specific kind of paint now.
ESQ: It's interesting because I think that that kind of discipline and rigour is akin to a meditation practice where you're doing something very mundane, but you're doing it very precisely, over and over again, like raking the Japanese garden in your big installation.
DA: Yeah.
ESQ: It does something to the mind. It does something to the creative mind, that practice...
DA: That's why we call it studio practice, because you're constantly trying things out. You're still learning and there's routines that get built up within that that I think are productive, actually, even if they feel like you're doing the same thing over and over again. But, you become better at those things through that kind of practice.
ESQ: Has there ever been a kind of an epiphany moment in that studio practice where you've just done a left turn or you’re shaking things up and thought, okay, I'm going to re orientate what I'm doing here?
DA: I often find it really difficult to trace the origin of particular ideas in my work because they flow from one another. They're kind of iterative. And, I recently started this new series of paintings that are these kinds of split face paintings. We were talking about them earlier and somebody was asking, where did the idea originate from and I can't even remember.
ESQ: So very much like a dream it's fragmentary, right? You know, it could come from the past and could come from, a moment in history or another life and it could also be a premonition of the future, something that you're projecting or wanting to manifest?
DA: Right.
ESQ: I think by saying I don't know where my ideas come from, I start to question whether they are from me or are they from another kind of source in a way that I'm channelling. Have you thought much about that? Where does inspiration come from in general for you?
DA: I think every artist is a product of the era they live in. It is the artist’s job to interpret and reveal new potential things within that reality that often go unseen or overlooked. Oftentimes when I create a work that has a big impact, it feels as though it already existed in the world, waiting to be expressed. This sense of inherent presence gives the work a significant impact and a sense of purpose fulfilled.
ESQ: There's definitely recurring symbols and motifs in your work. Are there recurring symbols and motifs in your dream world?
DA: Oh, I have tons of recurring dreams. One of them that's very strange that I can remember going all the way back to high school is, being in a kind of empty landscape with a single tree and there are these cylinders floating in the air and as I go to grab them, they shrink down into a pencil and then just disappear. Then I often have dreams where I'm in my childhood home where I kind of relive my childhood memories.
ESQ: And how does that make you feel?
DA: It's a beautiful thing to go back to your childhood. And, I could probably draw a very accurate floor plan of it even today. I haven't been in that house in over 30 years, but I know it very well. Space has a way of influencing our psychology that I think imprints a lot in childhood.
ESQ: In what way?
DA: I think your childhood bedroom or the space that you spend a lot of time in as a child imprints on you differently than the way an apartment in your 30s might. There's just a different character about it.
ESQ: I'm just imagining younger you in your childhood home, dreaming of what you might be in the future. What were some of the things that you were looking out for that gave you a sense of inspiration or confidence about taking the path of being an artist?
DA: I grew up in a really suburban neighbourhood where all the houses are literally identical with the same floor plan. They might do a mirror image where the house is in reverse of itself. I started getting into photography around age 10 or 11 when my grandfather gifted me a camera. One of my early artistic endeavours was a series of photos capturing the doors of these houses. Even though the houses were the same, the doors ended up being different. The paint of the door. Some people put a flower pot outside their door, or a cross, or something that gave that sameness a unique character. This experience sparked my recognition of an artist's ability to capture the distinctive aspects of everyday life that others may overlook.
ESQ: It's amazing because I can imagine you sort of looking through the frame and then it altering your sense of reality and perspective on the world. I'm really interested in this idea of how you think about reality and perspective. Obviously, our dream world allows us to play with one of those concepts because it is nonlinear, experimental. It's an unreal world. In some cultures, they would say the real world is an illusion and the dream world is the world. But obviously when you're making art and your artworks are also about world building and creating alternate worlds for yourself to inhabit, I wonder if this idea of reality shaping is something that interests you in your work.
DA: Yeah, I think for most people, they accept reality at face value and they accept the limitations of that. Right?
ESQ: The literal physics.
DA: It's not just about the physics; it's about where we're born, the options presented to us, and what we believe we're capable of achieving. For me, the essence of creating art goes beyond a career; it's about realising the potential to bring my visions to life authentically. It can be unsettling to recognise that much of what we perceive as reality are human constructs. Somebody made them, you know. I have my two young sons, Casper and Phoenix, and I often emphasise to them that behind every design decision lies the possibility for change. There's a lot of potential in realising that reality is malleable.
ESQ: So your motivation is about looking at the world and seeing how you can improve on it or change it. Or is it more about seeking some kind of answers to unrealised questions?
DA: Yeah, I think making art is more about trying to find the answer to something, but actually it's really revealing more questions in some ways.
ESQ: That's super interesting. I like that we talked a lot about childhood and your children as well. I think also part of it seems to me that you are always open to change and new possibilities. You said earlier, always learning is also a little bit about staying in a childlike state?
DA: Yeah. Children have this unique ability to perceive things differently.
ESQ: How do you maintain that sense of freshness and openness to new experiences? What are some of your techniques?
DA: I try to relive my own childhood through my sons. This is a bad example, but they've been wanting to get these go karts. Obviously, cars are a big part of my life, so I got them these really fast gas go karts that are probably not even legal today. I have a paved area behind my garage and you can fully drift these things. They kept telling me ‘you're going too fast’ and I was like ‘I got it under control!’ And eventually, like a child, I pushed it over the limit and fully flipped the thing, tore up my arm and knee, and it was funny. Casper, who's the older one, said ‘you know, I told you not to do that.’
ESQ: How have you showcased "pushing the limits" in your work?
DA: As an artist, we often engage in series, and the public often perceives artwork through repetition. It's like pages of a book that you're putting together, but knowing when the book is finished and how it progresses to the next chapter or book is a constant consideration. I often have too many ideas that I'm always waiting to realise. I don't know if that really answers the question. But yeah, I always have too many things on my list to make, too many ideas.
ESQ: Was there an experience, an artwork that's made such an incredible impression on you, the kind of impression you hope your work would have on the public when they encounter it?
DA: Right around the time that I was shooting those photographs, when I was 10, 11, 12, there was a hurricane in Florida that completely destroyed the childhood home that I grew up in. The house was reconstructed back in exactly the way that it had been before, except obviously, the wallpaper was different. The tiles on the floor were different. The furniture was different. But it was the exact same space. It also gave me the experience of seeing how architecture was put together. The structure, the electrical lines, the plumbing, the drywall, the paint. Understanding that, yeah, somebody thought about that, somebody made that, it was a considered idea. I think that really had a major impact on the way that I think about everything. Something being destroyed, something being reconstructed. The use of different materials for different possibilities and its manifested in my work in so many different ways.
ESQ: That's a great story. Last question, what’s an unrealised dream or ambition for you?
DA: Ummm.. an unrealised dream? Film is certainly something that I've played with in the past and I think never really realised in its full potential. Made some short films. But I think at this phase in my life, I keep coming back to the most interesting things that constantly draws me back. I have made a big return to painting after almost a decade. It's become not only a part of my art practice, but also a significant aspect of my daily life in the studio.
If books are windows to another world then get ready for a world tour. Embark on a journey around the globe with two new Louis Vuitton books. Offering sensorial experiences (aside from its chocolate shoppe) from different corners of the planet that are depicted through a photographer's lens and an artists’ watercolour works. Synonymous with the art of travelling, the trunk maker continues to capture the essence of new experiences and adventure through documentation.
As 2024 begins, Éditions Louis Vuitton extends another invitation to travel with Martin Parr’s United Kingdom. From shores to villages, the latest addition to the Fashion Eye collection paints a bittersweet portrait of the island nation.
The book records the ordinary life of the working class and the aristocracy. With about a hundred pictures in its contents, some never before published, it documents real life and real people in the four corners of the UK between 1998 and today.
Throughout, Parr maintains the same mischievous tone established in his first cult series and films like Bad Weather (1982); The Last Resort (1982-1985); The Cost of Living (1989); Signs of the Times (1992). Forty years later, he observes his peers the way his father observed birds: tirelessly.
Altogether, Parr's works transcends boundaries imposed by distance and space, offering an anthropological look at life in the UK to the world. Sharing many mixed emotions he feels towards his homeland, Parr presents his subjects as they are, flaws and all. Instead of imposing a specific perspective, he simply shows them as they truly are. As to its interpretation? Well, the best works are the ones that the viewers have to come up with their own.
Fashion Eye United Kingdom by Martin Parr will be available in Louis Vuitton stores, online and through select booksellers from 5 April 2024.
With the release of A Perfume Atlas, Louis Vuitton reveals the tedious processes that go into perfume making. Orchestrated by Jacques Cavallier Belletrud, master perfumer of Louis Vuitton, the book invites readers to trail the creator in his search for exceptional ingredients. Opening the door to a sensorial world filled with discoveries through the words of Lionel Paillès—an author renowned for his expertise in perfumery—coupled with paintings of Aurore de la Morinerie and photography by Sébastien Zanella.
A Perfume Atlas offers an extremely rare glimpse inside the savoir-faire of Belletrud. Through 200 watercolour depictions, it unveils the secrets of the house's perfume production process. Each page follows the master perfumer circling the globe in search of materials and his relationships with farmers in remote locales. Readers will be drawn by an evocative energy enhanced by age-old folklore.
A Perfume Atlas is also available in a limited edition set: the Perfume Atlas exclusive set. It includes 45 phials containing extractions of raw materials specially selected and presented by Belletrud.
It is a celebration of High Perfumery that is both poetic and scientific. This publication will delight lovers of nature, travel and beauty.
Available from 2 April 2024, A Perfume Atlas will be on sale at all Louis Vuitton stores. The limited edition box set will be on sale in selected stores.
I USED TO BE quite on when I started shooting. But now, I’m getting more and more relaxed. Photography is not a rat race.
I’VE BEEN SHOOTING for 13 years. I just do my thing. If I get likes on my IG, great. If not, that’s ok, too.
ORGANICALLY, my work made me who I am today. There was no agenda or game plan. I just kept shooting until things happened to me.
MY DAY JOB is in advertising but I don’t grind at work. I just make sure I have enough.
THERE ARE TIMES when I feel like I’m not doing much in the rat race but you know what? It is great for my mental health.
AM I SHOOTING to leave a legacy? I hope that whatever I’ve done amounts to something bigger.
THERE ARE MANY GOOD PHOTOGRAPHERS out there and 13 years later, I still get exhibited. That’s something that still surprises me.
MAYBE I’M IGNORANT but I don’t know anything about camera specs. I’m more visual than technical. There are times, however, that I force myself to understand the camera settings. I had to shoot people on the escalators but I can’t capture a good clear image on auto mode. I had to learn how to shoot manually.
REGARDLESS of what industry you are in, there will always be haters.
ONE TIME, I was talking to Kevin [WY Lee] and I told him how envious I was that other photographers get to shoot awesome pictures overseas. He asked what was wrong with shooting in Singapore; if you cannot shoot in your own playground, what makes you so sure that you can shoot in another person’s playground? That stuck with me. For the first six years, I just shot in Singapore.
ABOUT 90 PER CENT OF THE TIME, I’d shoot without asking the subjects for their permission. Because what I want, is the spontaneity of the moment. If I did ask them, something in the moment would be lost.
I’VE MADE SHORT FILMS but I’m more of a still person. You need a crew for filmmaking and the amount of time and involvement needed is too much for me to handle.
“PHOTOGRAPHY IS SELF-MASTURBATION.” That statement is true because in any craft, there’s some sort of conceit involved. I posted that on my IG story and it caused a lot of people to unfollow me. I still stand by the statement though.
BACK BEFORE INSTAGRAM had the archive feature, I used to Marie Kondo my IG feed. Every year, I’d delete them all. There was no reason to keep the images. It was just a matter of housekeeping.
A FEW PEOPLE have asked me to remove photos of them on my IG. In 2010, when I was shooting at the Tanjong Pagar railway station, I shared a shot of a couple kissing. One of them messaged me and asked me to remove it, so I did.
NO ONE WILL EVER SEE this photo but one time, in an alleyway in Little India, I saw a naked man when the door opened. He was sitting there, fully exposed and smoking. It took me aback. My camera was already in my hands so I secretly took a shot.
I USE AI to create fake images that I couldn’t capture in real life. Like the images of Bugis Street in the old days. I don’t have a time machine so this is the next best thing.
NOTHING BEATS BEING THERE: AI can only replicate, it can never duplicate. AI is going to be part of our lives. So, we just have to work with it. It’ll never replace the real moments but it’ll help in other ways.
OFF THE TOP of my head, I’m afraid that I may not have tomorrow to take another photo.
EVERY DAY, I’ll make the best of it. It doesn’t necessarily have to even be about photography. I can just enjoy my time by drinking a beer; that is good enough for me.
IT’S ALL GUT FEEL. It’s hard to explain what I’m going for when I shoot.
DON’T DEBATE with people because you can’t reason with them no matter how good your argument is. I just won’t bother.
THE NEW GENERATION of photographers is doing an amazing job. I don’t get why the old guard is so angry with them.
WHATEVER YOU DO IN LIFE, it’s important to let go. Once you do that, you will feel more at peace.
WHEN I STARTED PHOTOGRAPHY, I felt the pressure but that feeling didn’t last that long. I used to chase after the image. I’d hunt for that moment and when I don’t get it, I get fed up. Eventually, I learnt to just let the image come to me.
WHEN YOU SEE ME on the street, just say hi. I may look fierce but I won’t bite.
NOTHING WRONG with mimicking someone’s style. You have to start somewhere so you’ll often shoot like the photographer you admire. After a while, you’ll find your voice.
WHAT I DON’T LIKE are people trying to get that overnight fame. It’s obvious, you can tell. I don’t bash them, I’ll just let them be because how long can they last? It’s tiring.
Photography: Jaya Khidir
