Is AI Killing Photography? Why Real Moments Still Matter

Key Takeaways

• AI isn’t killing photography — it’s changing how fast we can work and how certain niches operate, especially stock and advertising.
• Authentic photography still matters — fine art, landscapes, street, documentary. Anything rooted in real life requires a human being there with a camera.
• I use AI tools daily (Lightroom, Photoshop, ChatGPT), but only to enhance workflow and publish faster. Every photo I make is real, signed, and authentic.
• Most photographers are driven by the love of capturing real moments and experiences, which AI cannot replace.
• I’ve seen this story before — film to digital, Photoshop, microstock — every “death of photography” has only reshaped the craft.
• The photographers who adapt survive. The ones who don’t — like Kodak — disappear.

The Short Answer: AI Is Reshaping, Not Killing Photography

I’ve been a photographer for over forty years. I’ve seen photography “die” at least half a dozen times. Film was supposed to die when digital arrived. Photoshop was supposed to kill authenticity. Stock photography was supposed to devalue the value of images. And now it’s AI.

Authenticity in photography means being there—hearing the traffic, smelling the rain on pavement, noticing when the neon hums to life. That’s what you’ll find in my Urban Wall Art Collection.

Here’s the truth: I use AI tools every day. Lightroom, Photoshop, even ChatGPT. Not to generate fake images, but to work faster, finish more images, and share them with the world at a scale I never could before. These tools don’t replace my eye, my presence, or my timing. They don’t replace the fact that I was there. They just help me publish authentic work more quickly. The changes brought by new technology are already happening in the industry, simplifying tasks that once required manual effort and making photography more accessible.

In 2024, about 20% of Americans reported using AI to generate an image or video (Pew Research Center). At the same time, the photography industry kept growing. That’s not a contradiction. That’s the signal: AI isn’t killing photography. It’s reshaping how images are made, edited, and delivered. It’s important to realize that new technology and automation can actually enhance creativity and lower barriers, allowing more people to participate and innovate. These shifts only happen if photographers and industry stakeholders choose to adapt or resist, shaping the future of photography through their actions.

Historical Context: Photography Has Survived Disruption Before

Every generation of photographers has had to face a disruption.

When digital cameras appeared in the 1990s, people swore film was finished. Instead, digital democratized photography, made learning faster, and invited more people into the craft. Professional photographers are a great example of resilience—many adapted to digital technology, survived market saturation, and continued to thrive in areas like weddings, real estate, and portraits where a human touch and real images are essential. 

AI can conjure endless nature scenes, but it’ll never feel the wind on a gnarled branch at dawn or see how light catches on moss. That’s why real nature deserves real capture—see more in my Natural World Photography Collection, where every detail is unfiltered and authentic.

Photoshop in the ’80s triggered the same reaction. “Manipulation will destroy credibility.” Yet here we are — Photoshop is just the modern darkroom. The debates about digital manipulation in photography mirror similar discussions in painting and other art forms, where the role of technology and human creativity is constantly evolving.I faced this directly when I ran my stock photography company, Kozzi Images. I sold royalty-free images at prices that many pros thought were too cheap. I was tiny compared to Shutterstock, but the anger was real. I recall Art Wolfe mentioning that he used to earn tens of thousands of dollars per week from stock in the ’70s and ’80s, but by the 2000s, that figure had shrunk to almost nothing. He wasn’t wrong. The industry had changed. The evolution of the stock photography business illustrates the necessity of adaptation in response to technology-driven disruptions of established markets.

Eventually, I closed my stock business. Why? Because the market was trending to the lowest common denominator, even before AI was on anyone’s radar. I wasn’t interested in racing to the bottom. Instead, I put my energy into building what I now believe is the largest single-artist collection of authentic fine art photography in the world. And I could only do it because I embraced new tools and aimed at a worldwide audience.

And then there’s Kodak. Their 2012 bankruptcy wasn’t caused by photography dying — it was caused by Kodak failing to adapt. They thought they were in the film business. They weren’t. They were in the business of selling memories. I learned that in business school: know what business you’re really in, or risk being blindsided.

Where AI Is Making the Biggest Impact

Commercial and Stock Photography

AI is hitting stock and advertising hardest. Commodity imagery — generic lifestyle shots, product-on-white — can now be generated for pennies. Artificial intelligence and AI image generators can create images from prompts, but these are not photography in the traditional sense. Not everyone agrees on whether AI-generated images should be considered art or photography. Shutterstock built AI right into its platform in 2023. If a business can make a social media graphic for $10, they won’t pay a photographer $500. That’s reality!

But this is also an opportunity. Serious brands still need authenticity. Real products, real places, real storytelling. AI-generated images are created by algorithms and prompts; while AI creates visually appealing content, it cannot create art with the same intent and emotional depth as a human. The rise of AI images and AI-generated content has led some to claim that AI will kill photography, but the core of real photography remains rooted in human experience. Despite the proliferation of AI images, most of what is created by AI is not photography, but rather digital illustration or synthetic art. The difference is simple: stop competing at the bottom, and focus on what AI can’t do. For me, that means authentic fine art — real cities, landscapes, and fleeting moments.

Weddings and Events

I’ve never shot weddings, but I’ll say this: weddings are one area AI will never replace. Couples don’t want fake memories. They want the real thing — unpredictable laughter, nerves, joy. Couples want a person to capture their personal experience and the real moments in their lives, ensuring that what is photographed truly reflects their story. The timing has to be human.

Other photographers may lean on AI for culling or denoising, but the essence — being present and catching the moment — remains firmly in human hands. The act of taking pictures, being there to photograph events, and creating photos and pictures that hold meaning is essential; AI cannot replace the stuff that makes these images a genuine record of our lives.

Portrait and Fashion

I don’t shoot commercial portraits or fashion, but I’ve followed the industry long enough to know the story. Brands are experimenting with AI avatars, but ultimately, people want to see clothes on real bodies. Authenticity wins. Good grief, the point of portraiture is to capture real emotion, not to generate images out of thin air.

Where I do shoot people is on the street. A fleeting portrait of a stranger. A glance, a gesture, a moment you can’t plan. That’s something AI will never anticipate. A good photo relies on the human mind's perception and the ability to hear and feel the moment—something that simply can't be replicated by AI.

Technical AI vs. Creative AI

There are really two kinds of AI in photography. Many editing software programs now include AI features that automate complex tasks, making the technical side of photography more accessible.

AI as a Tool

This is what I use every day. Lightroom masking. Photoshop’s content-aware cleanup. Noise reduction when I push ISO in tough light. These tools make me faster, but they don’t fake the scene. AI-driven tools can also enhance image quality by detecting and correcting noise, blur, and other imperfections, allowing me to produce more high-quality real images without altering the fact that I was there.

I don’t replace skies. Look through my portfolio and you’ll see some spectacular skies — and plenty of bland ones. That’s life. While AI-powered sky replacement can automate the selection process and make it easy to swap skies, the creative decision still rests with the photographer. Fake skies may fool some people for now, but I believe they’ll eventually be frowned upon. Authenticity builds reputation. And in fine art, reputation is everything.

AI as a Generator

Then there are tools like MidJourney, Stable Diffusion, and DALL·E. These don’t enhance; they invent. DALL·E, for example, is an AI image generator that creates photo-realistic images from text prompts, but these images are fundamentally different from real photographs because they lack a direct connection to reality. They make images of things that never existed. That isn’t photography. Photography has always had one non-negotiable: someone was there with a camera.

As AI floods the internet with fabricated perfection, the reputation of the artist will matter more than ever. People will look for names they can trust.

Photographer Adaptation Strategies for the AI Era

Focus on Human Strengths

What AI can’t do is live the work. It doesn’t walk streets in the rain. It doesn’t climb mountains in bad weather. It doesn’t put in the miles.

This summer, I spent three days in Dawson City, Yukon. I walked about 20 kilometres a day, back and forth through that historic town, photographing its crooked wooden buildings, its back alleys, and the stories written in its weathered facades. That kind of commitment — being there, day after day, waiting for light and life — is something AI will never replicate. Photographers like Robert Frank showed us that authentic, human-centered photography—rooted in real presence and emotional depth—cannot be replaced by artificial intelligence.

Use AI Where It Helps

• Masking & Retouching: AI can select skies, subjects, or hair, saving me time. But the decision of what to keep or emphasize is still mine.
• Noise Reduction: AI denoise lets me work in tough light and still deliver clean, authentic files.
• Catalog Health: Keywording and face detection help me find images faster in a collection of thousands.

But let’s be clear: I still cull my work manually. No amount of AI can replace the photographer's creative decisions and taste. There’s no shortcut to deciding which frame carries the story. That’s an act of taste, not automation.

Black and white images demand attention to light, shadow, and emotion—like seeing texture and tone without color. That’s real photography, not AI presets. You’ll find more of that honesty in my Black and White Photography Collection.

Compete Where AI Can’t

Don’t fight AI in the cheap stock space. Compete where authenticity matters.

Studio photographers do it with sets, styling, and client care. I do it with scale, authenticity, and presence. My photographs are real — real skies, real streets, real weather. That’s something you can’t prompt into existence. Ansel Adams, for example, created images with a depth of artistry and emotional resonance that AI simply cannot replicate.

Keep Learning

I’m in my early 60s, and I’m still learning every day. You have to. The moment you stop, you fall behind. I study light, storytelling, and printmaking. And yes, I learn new AI tools too — not to define my work, but to stay sharp and adaptable.

The Future of Photography by 2030

By 2030, AI will be baked into everything: cameras, editing suites, even the phones in our pockets. Autofocus will be smarter, exposure more predictive, and editing faster.

But this won’t erase photographers. It will split the market:

• Cheap synthetic images for filler.
• Authentic human photography for storytelling, trust, and art.

That’s where I stand. And that’s why I believe real photography will matter more in the future, not less.

Collectors, brands, and audiences will increasingly look for authenticity. They’ll want to know: was someone actually there? Does this image carry context? In a world flooded with fakes, the reputation of the artist will carry the most weight.

FAQ

Will AI replace photographers?

No. It will replace low-value commodity work. But fine art, street, documentary, landscape — anything built on being present — can’t be faked.

How do you tell if an image is AI?

Right now, you can look for the cracks: garbled text, odd anatomy, strange reflections. But AI will get better. Eventually, it may be hard to tell. That’s why reputation and trust will matter more than ever.

What AI tools are worth learning?

Lightroom’s masking, Photoshop’s AI cleanup, and Topaz noise reduction. Tools that save time without faking reality.

What about skies?

Other photographers might replace skies. I never do. Great skies and bland skies alike are part of my portfolio because they’re part of reality. In time, I believe audiences will trust imperfect authenticity over synthetic perfection.

What about legal issues?

Enhancing your own photographs is fine. But generating fake elements can raise copyright and disclosure questions. In fine art, authenticity is the only safe path.

Final Thoughts

So, is AI killing photography? Absolutely not. It’s forcing us to answer what we stand for.

I stand for authenticity.

AI can make a picture. But only a photographer — someone walking 20 km a day in Dawson City, someone standing in the rain waiting for the light to break, someone on the street with a camera watching for the decisive moment — can make a photograph.

That’s the difference. And that’s why real photography will not just survive AI — it will matter more than ever.

If you’ve been following this article and want to know who’s standing behind these words—and images—you can get to know me over at my biography. It’s where I share why I shoot what I shoot: real places, real moments, not trends. Check it out here: The Artist Biography.