shanebalkowitsch

A side-by-side comparison of a bald man with a gray beard and extensive face tattoos. The left image is in color, revealing the vivid tattoos, while the right image is a black-and-white rendition of the same person, highlighting facial features in contrast.

Disappearing Ink on a Tattooed Man: A Photographer’s Story

The tattooed man arrived at the photographer’s right on time, a walking gallery of living art in vibrant blues, greens, and reds imprinted all over his face and neck. He sat for a portrait in the studio as scheduled.

A digital artwork of a person wearing headphones, sitting at a desk with a laptop, against a vibrant pixelated cityscape at sunset. the scene conveys a futuristic, tech-inspired ambiance.

AI is Corrupting the Internet as We Know It

The internet is being overrun by fake and bogus AI imagery and text. The question is, what are we going to do about it? The internet has always had a problem with misinformation, but that problem is being accelerated by AI and the deluge of fabricated lies and deceit. Is it not important that the truth is determined by how it matches up with reality?

Does The World Need Images of Fake A.I. People?

We have all heard the arguments for and against A.I. imagery from the perspective of photographers. By now, most of us realize that these images are not photographs but some sort of graphic design created by artificial intelligence.

AI Imagery May Destroy History As We Know It

Artificial intelligence images have the potential to misinform the future. For the first time in the technological present, we are on the cusp of a life-and-art-altering explosion of intentionally created dis-informational imagery.

A.I. Imagery Is Not Photography, It Never Will Be

We've all seen the images surfacing online of portraits with seven fingers on one hand and two left feet. Recently, the internet has been inundated by imagery coming from prompted artificial intelligence programs such as Midjourney, Jasper, and DALL-E. The world has been captivated by the potential these new neural networks bring to the creative space.

Eve Marie Lancaster - Maiden Pouring Milk

Wet Plate Pictorialism in the Modern World: ‘Maiden Pouring Milk’

The Accademia del Disegno (“Academy of Design”), which opened in 1563 Florence, Italy was the world’s first academy of art. Prior to that time, to succeed with a career in the arts, a would-be artist either apprenticed in a respected Master’s atelier or was self-educated.

This Wet Plate Photo Took the Collaboration of 90 People to Produce

For the past five years, I have organized an annual photographic Tableaux Vivant based on classic paintings. I have included anywhere from 15, or in the instance of my 2021 construction, No Vaccine for Death, 90 collaborators.

This Photographer Shot a Wet Plate Portrait Over Video Chat

Photographers around the world have been getting creative to keep their skills sharp during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and widespread home quarantine. While many photographers are experimenting with doing remote photo shoots over video chat, Shane Balkowitsch took it to a new level by capturing a wet plate portrait.

A Wet Plate Portrait of Greta Thunberg

Greta Thunberg exploded into the public consciousness last month after the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist gave an impassioned and scathing speech to world leaders at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York. Earlier this month, wet plate photographer Shane Balkowitsch got 20 minutes with Thunberg at Standing Rock and used the time to make 2 wet plate portraits of her.

I Built the Largest Natural Light Wet Plate Studio in the US in Over a Century

There are fewer than 1,000 wet plate collodion artists practicing around the world, and as far as I know, I am the only one in the state of North Dakota. 5 years ago, I didn't own a camera and knew nothing about photography. I saw a wet plate online and I was immediately drawn to it, and thus my journey began.