We were lucky to catch up with Garrett & Michelle recently and have shared our conversation below.

Garrett & Michelle , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

One of the most alarming trends of 2023 across the creative industries is the emergence of AI technology. AI has been around for awhile, however in the last six months it has exploded, especially in the creative industries. In late 2022, the app Lensa skyrocketed in popularity, allowing anyone to upload photos of themselves into the app, and for a mere $3.99 it would turn out stylized portraits that appeared to be illustrated by an artist in several different styles – you probably can recall many people changing their profile pictures to these stylized type of illustrations. AI has only snowballed since then, and it seems like everyday we are hearing about new advancements. By entering a few keywords into a system, users are now able to generate photo realistic images, music scores, illustrations that mimic well known artist’s styles, or even novels. A common concern we’ve been hearing over and over from fellow creatives is whether AI will replace artists, musicians, writers and photographers, as anyone who pays a subscription and types a few keywords into these systems can now generate content without dedicating the time to learn the skills and techniques to create creative content. An even greater concern is how these AI bots generate their content, as no AI pulls ideas from thin air, they don’t have a creative consciousness; they are trained by being fed existing content; writing, music, photos or art. For example, it was discovered that the Lensa app was actually scrubbing images directly from artist’s portfolios without their consent or payment, as snippets of the artist’s signatures were still visible in areas of the generated portraits. Several well known illustrators are already suffering the consequences of having their content fed into these systems, as they can no longer find their work with a simple google search – it is buried under pages of often poor impersonations of generated AI images, created using keywords of their name and art style. Sci-fi publisher Clarkesworld had to close their pitches due to a flood of poorly written AI generated stories. Here in Colorado, an art competition at the Colorado State Fair awarded first place to an AI generated piece of art, which was created in Midjourney by entering a few keywords – no art was created, the winning composition was scraped from any number of working artist’s portfolios. Australian company DigiDirect awarded a cash prize for their weekly photo contest to an AI generated image under the assumption it was a drone shot. These are just a few examples of thousands of artists being affected, just in the past few months.
After researching AI – not only what it creates but how it actually operates – we’ve taken a firm stand against the use of such systems to create creative content, especially since it utilizes the unethical theft of creative property of working artists. Everytime you use an AI tool, you are training it off the work of others, allowing it to learn and evolve, all while it pulls from artist’s portfolios without permission, payment or credit. We encourage other creatives to keep up to date with AI advancement, as well as the emerging lawsuits that have begun to spring up. It’s important for every artist to conduct their own research on this rapidly developing technology, and to protect their work from AI systems with watermarks or running their images through a system like Glaze, which was developed by a group of PhD students and CS professors to protect digital work from AI mimicry.
While many creatives are feeling discouraged, it’s important to keep perspective. Typing a few keywords into a system does not make one an artist. Passion, dedication, skill, and most importantly, a unique voice make one an artist.

Garrett & Michelle , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We are the owners of Iron Image Productions, a photography business located in Littleton Colorado. Garrett specializes in landscape and wildlife photography. He grew up in the high rockies on the back of a horse, exploring the backcountry, packing in for several weeks at a time. He enjoys capturing quiet moments and epic compositions. I specialize in portrait photography and photo editing. I have a Bachelors in Fine Arts and also work as a Professor at the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, teaching at the institution for 7 years now. With my extensive background in the arts, I have a unique eye for visual design elements such as composition, color theory, tone and storytelling within photography.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

There are many benefits of not only working as a creative, but making conscious decisions to incorporate creativity and artistry into your everyday life. Creativity is a natural antidepressant; studies show that participating in one creative activity a day can lead to a more positive outlook, even improving one’s confidence. Creative tasks work similar to natural antidepressants, motivating and filling your brain with dopamine, it really is an amazing thing. When you can incorporate creativity throughout your business as a whole, it brings a level of personal satisfaction to your work itself. Developing your skill sets with new challenges doesn’t feel like work at all, it’s just another part of the creative process, and the work is enjoyable. Who wouldn’t want more joy in their day to day life? Garrett and I both struggle with anxiety from time to time, but we’ve found that immersing ourselves in a new project is a great way to reset our mentality, providing a new focus.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

We don’t believe there is such a person as a “non-creative” as everyone has the potential to be creative if they choose to spend time developing their chosen skill. A common misconception is that artists or creatives are “talented” at their work, and a “non-creative” could never paint, dance, sing, write, etc because they were not born with a specific talent. We wouldn’t say that artists are boiled down to being talented, they are skilled. They are passionate about their work. They developed their skills and techniques in their chosen field, oftentimes toiling years to get to the level they are today. Sure, some creatives are naturally inclined to a certain skill, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t nurture that talent to become experts in their field. That is one of the reasons we educate others about AI in the creative industries. Many AI users will use the excuse that they are simply not “talented’ and AI gives them the ability to create, destroying gatekeeping. This is nonsense. Anyone can create, they just need to put the time and effort into it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ironimageproductions.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ironimageproductions/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ironimageproductions/

Image Credits
Iron Image Productions