Masterclass Lecture
Masterclass Lecture
Impactful Imagery in the Age of AI
How can one respond both as a producer of imagery and a viewer to the various kinds of emerging media including, for example, AI-generated imagery? How is it possible to still preserve the credibility of photography in an age of “fake news,” “post-truth,” and artificial intelligence? Are new labels necessary to differentiate various kinds of imagery as well as a new vocabulary to reinforce the differences between non-fiction and fiction photography? Given the fracturing of media, is it still possible to find a common ground in one’s work which can appeal to a variety of people? Is it still possible to make iconic images that will be emblematic of an issue when there is no longer a “front page” to highlight what is happening in the world? If not, then what can one do to focus society’s attention on certain issues?
Fred Ritchin has spent the past half-century working as a writer, editor, educator, curator, and software developer. He is the dean emeritus of the School at the International Center of Photography; was professor of Photography & Imaging at New York University where he co-founded the Photography and Human Rights program in collaboration with Susan Meiselas and the Magnum Foundation; was picture editor of The New York Times Magazine and executive editor of Camera Arts magazine; and has written four books on the future of imaging, including most recently The Synthetic Eye: Photography Transformed in the Age of AI (Thames & Hudson, 2025) and Bending the Frame: Photojournalism, Documentary, and the Citizen, which was recently re-printed by Aperture.
He also curated the first mid-life retrospective of the work of Sebastião Salgado at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; conceived and edited the first non-linear online documentary, “Bosnia: Uncertain Paths to Peace,” with photographer Gilles Peress (nominated by the New York Times for the Pulitzer Prize in public service), and curated the first exhibition of contemporary Latin American photography in the United States, as well as exhibitions at the United Nations. He also created the first multimedia version of the New York Times newspaper, and conceived of the Four Corners Project, an available open-source software to increase the credibility of the photograph.
Ritchin has taught and lectured worldwide, including in Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, England, France, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Uruguay, and the United States. He also writes a column on Substack, “Notes of a MetaPhotographer.” Ritchin lives in New York and Paris.
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