Enhancing the Creative Process with AI: A Case Study
By harnessing the transformative power of AI in the creative ideation process, a new way of working on photography projects was born. The result: a captivating photography series that harmonizes human vision and AI-driven innovation.
Introduction &
In early 2023, a multicultural artist organization, The Vanta Guild, was commissioned by Trinity Repertory Company to produce a photo series inspired by an original play, The Inferior Sex, written by Jacqueline E. Lawton, about a feminist fashion magazine challenged with politically and racially diversifying its content in the 1970s.
My involvement was that of a photographer and collaborator and this case study explores how Dall-E, a generative model developed by OpenAI, was employed to assist and enhance the creative ideation process of this photography project. The study showcases the ways in which AI technology can serve as a powerful ally, helping to develop a visual approach and define and refine artistic parameters.
Project Overview.
The Vanta Guild kicked off this endeavor with a discussion of the project and its context, along with thoughtful questions to percolate on and visually answer. Curated by Melaine J. King, Ph.D. candidate in Africana Studies at Brown University, she collaborated with 6 local women photographers – including myself – to create 70s-inspired photos that reflected their unique lens on U.S. women’s history.
Blending retro fashions with this visual theme, I wanted to explore the dichotomy between the empowerment of women to join the professional workforce and the pressure to stay silent on issues important to a woman’s well-being in order to keep the jobs they’ve fought for.
My approach was multifaceted, which included a mix of discussion-based ideation, primary source gathering (I have a collection of art books full of old fashion advertisements, including many from that era) and the integration of AI imagery tools to aid in visual generation as a baseline.
Visual Inspiration &
Contextual Research
Even as women began integrating into the “professional workforce” in the 60’s and 70’s, fair and appropriate treatment was still a challenge. While female representation in office environments was a huge step forward for women, they were also often silenced by those who employed them. However with the second wave of the feminist movement, women reclaimed the ownership of their rights, issues, and voices, and displayed them in visible, vulnerable, public spaces.
In order to garner a greater sense of contextual authenticity, I dove into photographic archives of political rallies and protests as well as fine art/fashion advertisements from the late 1960’s and early 1970’s to garner more inspiration. Additionally, using striking portraits by Richard Avedon (a world renown fashion photographer who dominated magazine spreads during that time), I blended my personal artistic style with the compositional expression and expertise of those photographers who came before me to create a series that felt tangible and relevant to the era and the show.
Photo credit: David Fenton/Getty Images
Photo credit: Don Hogan Charles/The New York Times
Photo credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Photo credit: Richard Avedon/The Avedon Foundation
Photo credit: Richard Avedon/The Avedon Foundation
Utilizing Dall-E for Creative Ideation.
AI’s Role in the Creative Process
Dall-E, renowned for generating images from textual descriptions, was integrated into the project to aid in the creative ideation process.
By submitting detailed queries, such as “a fashion editorial photo of a pregnant woman in the 70’s” and “a fashion photo of a pregnant secretary next to protest signs in an office in the 1970’s”, I defined specific artistic parameters, such as the style, setting, time-period, and objects I envisioned in the photographs. While not necessarily grammatically correct, these iterative copy cues aided in the granularity of the draft images I was looking for.
Dall-E responded by generating images that aligned with the provided descriptions, which became more detailed, specific and refined over time, and ultimately provided a baseline for my creative vision.
Human-AI Collaboration &
The AI-generated images acted as visual stimuli and a springboard for new ideas, directions, and compositions. Already having the style and tone I wanted to create, I was able to communicate to Dall-E with specific textual cues that produced additional versions of the images I thought felt “right”.
The AI-generated images offered fresh perspectives for how I could possibly execute, and also encouraged me as the photographer to use my knowledge of lighting and model-direction to craft and compose the frames.
The human-AI collaboration between myself, as the artist, and Dall-E, as the AI tool, enhanced the efficiency of artistic ideation and the creative workflow throughout the entirety of the project.
Most notably, it was clear that by utilizing Dall-E (and AI) as a partner in this capacity, AI’s role in this project was that of a creative assistant that complemented my process, rather than replace it.
Artistic Refinement.
As the project progressed and I more closely aligned with a particular style I wanted to emulate (such as a the previously mentioned style of Richard Avedon), I submitted detailed more queries to adjust to these subtle details, such as lighting, textures, and arrangements. In doing so, my collaboration with Dall-E achieved a level of precision that might have been harder to attain without AI assistance.
Utilizing the previous contextual research, I used my artistic judgment to select and modify AI-generated images to best square up with this vision, effectively curating the output to best suit the project's creative objectives and my photographic goals.
Results &
The integration of AI in my creative workflow significantly enriched the project's final output. Using Dall-E as a tool to explore a wide range of visual possibilities in terms of composition, lighting and poses, I was able to bring a new level of efficiency to my artistic process. This also enabled me to focus more on the conceptual aspects, like experimenting with mood, themes, and aesthetics, and less on technicalities of the project.
While it’s difficult to quantify, from a creative standpoint, I felt confident in my direction and vision when creating the photographs that were used for the final project.
Not only did I successfully produce a series of photographs that looked and felt authentic to the project, the historical context, and my own style and that of the artist I drew inspiration from, but I opened a door for myself (and other artists) to level-up the creative workflows that can be leveraged with these new technologies.
Outcome.
By harnessing the transformative power of AI, this revolutionary way of streamlining the creative ideation process breathed fresh life into my photographic works and workflows, and propelled me beyond the traditional boundaries of my own artistic scope.
The final collection of photos showcased an innovative fusion of period-context, narrative depth, and artistic expression that might not have been as achievable without AI's contribution.
Conclusion.
The human-AI collaboration showcased in this case study provides a glimpse into the transformative potential of AI in the creative ideation process. By fostering a partnership between myself (as the artist) and AI (Dall-E, in this case), I was able to capitalize on the powerful generative capabilities AI can offer without subtracting any authenticity to my work or my ideas.
By leveraging AI-generated images as a springboard for inspiration, I was able to further my artistic exploration and photographic instincts by worrying less about visual ideation, mood boards and reference material and more about conceptual thinking and artistic execution.
This intersection between the human and AI realms encouraged me to traverse uncharted territories and push the boundaries of my own artistic limits, knowing that my specified input equaled the visual output.
Through this collaboration, I not only redefined my own creative process but tapped into the revolutionary potential AI can bring to other photographers, artists and creators on a larger scale.
For more information on the show, Vanta Guild partnership, and photographic works, visit Trinity Repertory Company.
