Marketing consultancy O.agency's Original Thinking podcast explores a range of topics facing today's leaders, from finding originality in a world of AI to managing creativity and change in business.
In the latest episode, O.agency Founder Kari Owers talks to photographer and owner of editorial platform Pattern, Christopher Owens, about creativity, craft and AI.
Chris has been a photographer for almost 20 years, with his work appearing in The Guardian, The Times and the National Portrait Gallery, alongside commercial work for brands including Greggs.
Read some of the conversation Kari and Chris had around original thinking and why people are pushing back against increasingly perfect-looking imagery.
Would you describe yourself as an original thinker?
I don’t know if I’d call myself an original thinker, but I’m definitely a thinker! It’s really hard to have a completely original thought now. For me, it’s more about trusting the ideas that come from your own experiences, the people you’ve met and the things that have shaped how you see the world.
Quite often you’ll have one idea, then come across something completely different and suddenly the two work together in a way that feels new. As a photographer, that’s what I’m trying to do – put my way of seeing a person or situation into that little rectangle.
Do you need to feel inspired to produce creative work?
I don’t really subscribe to the idea of waiting for a big spark of inspiration because when creativity is your job, you have to learn how to access it on demand. There are days when I don’t feel inspired, but I still have to turn up and make something. The more shoots you do, the more tools you have to pull yourself out of those situations.
At the same time, I always try to leave enough space on a shoot for something unexpected to happen. Some of the best photographs come from moments you couldn’t have planned and I love that.
How important is the human connection behind portrait photography?
It’s probably more important than the technical side. A lot of the time I’m walking into a building I’ve never been in before, meeting somebody for the first time and I might have ten minutes to get the photograph. You have to find some common ground quickly and work out what you can bring out of that person. Hopefully, when I photograph somebody, you get some sense of who they are or where they are in their life at that moment.
How has AI changed the way you think about photography?
It’s made me think more about where the value in my work lies. I’ve experimented with generative AI because I’d rather understand what it can do than just be anxious about it and some of it is incredibly powerful. You can generate a likeness of somebody without really capturing them, it’s all very surface level. An algorithm can work with the information it has available, but it can’t have that conversation with somebody or understand what’s happening in the room.
What I find strange is that some of the first things we’ve handed over to AI are creative things, when creativity is such an innately human way of communicating. I’d much rather it freed up our time from processes and data crunching so we had more time to do the creative work.
Are audiences starting to push back against images that feel too perfect?
Definitely. I think people have quite good spidey senses when something looks too polished or too perfect! People are struggling to believe what they see and that can be dangerous for brands because trust can disappear quickly.
I think we’ll see more work where the rough edges haven’t all been sanded off. Not celebrating imperfection for the sake of it, but celebrating the reality behind it. There’s credibility and integrity in those imperfections.
What does the future look like for photographers in an AI world?
Photography has already changed massively during my career. I learnt on film and then watched the whole industry move to digital, and now AI feels like another shift.
I think photographers need to remain open to experimenting with new technology, while protecting the things that make their craft valuable. Craft matters, but taste matters too – having enough experience to know what’s rubbish, what’s good and what’s great.
To hear to the whole conversation head to O.agency’s Original Thinking podcast on Spotify or via www.o.agency/news