Beyond the Frame 68/

Peacock dancers at Angkor Wat. Visa pour l'Image photojournalism festival. AI limitations. How to spot a fake photo. Kodachrome is coming.

Aug 06, 2025

Peacock Dancers at sunset, Angkor Wat, Cambodia. 1/250, ƒ/4, ISO 800, 16mm

The peacock dance is a traditional Asian folk dance, which celebrates the beauty and gentle movement of the peacock.

Finding these two dancers with a troupe of dancing friends at Angkor Wat was a stroke of luck. I recruited them for an impromptu photo shoot as the light faded.

I’m hoping to return to Cambodia before the end of the year. I know parts of the country reasonably well but always depart feeling like there’s so much more to discover.

Visa pour l’Image

In the meantime, I shall be attending the Visa pour l’Image photojournalism festival in Perpignan next month.

The festival promises many exhibitions and screenings, some of which will be available to view online – so I will share links and details in due course.

A firefighter battles flames approaching homes during the “Creek Fire” in Madera County, September 7, 2020 by Josh Edelson

The image above was made by Josh Edelson, an exhibitor at Visa pour l’Image. You can see more from Josh’s collection of wildfire images on his website.

There will also be an opportunity to see winning images in a number of prestigious photography competitions, which I am particularly interested in.

If you’re going to be in Perpignan for Visa pour l’Image next month, let me know.

No need to, Guess

Is it real or is it AI?

I don’t think these examples of AI-generated images are the most convincing I’ve seen. Yet, they were apparently good enough for clothing company Guess to use in this month’s edition of Vogue.

The company responsible for creating the images has met with some pushback. The majority of comments on their Instagram account have been negative, mostly for promoting unrealistic beauty standards lacking in diversity.

According to one of the AI company’s founders, they don’t create AI images of non-white models because, "We’ve posted AI images of women with different skin tones, but people do not respond to them - we don’t get any traction or likes.”

Imagine that. No likes! Can you think of anything worse?

When asked why they haven’t created any AI versions of plus-sized models, their response was, “The technology is not advanced enough for that".

Well, I’m convinced! I mean, sure, I can get an AI generator to produce an image of a grinning ninja elf riding a flying purple elephant above mountains made of candy floss – off the top of my head – but a normal-sized woman is apparently out of reach for the current technology. Maybe one day.

It’s not all bad news though. In interviews, the company’s founders say that they’re merely supplementing existing options and no jobs are at risk from the technology. Somebody ought to tell the copywriter responsible for their website blurb, because there we find the claim that their service, “eliminates the need for expensive set-ups, make-up artists, venue rentals, stage setting, photographers, travel expenses, hiring models…”

If you are working in any of those professions, don’t panic. AI isn’t yet capable of generating images of woman who look like, you know, actual women. So your job is safe for now.

You can read the full story on the BBC website.

How to spot fake AI photos

Digital forensics expert Hany Farid gave a TED talk in April where he demonstrated how to spot fake AI images.

Hany explains that it boils down to a close analysis of vanishing points and shadow directions in many cases. He also speaks about the recent Content Credentials initiative, which is slowly but surely being adopted by camera manufacturers.

Winning an award for Top Ironic Moment of the Week, at the conclusion of the AI talk, a pop-up appears on the TED website, offering a summary of “Key Takeaways”. The small print says, “TED Takeaways are generated by AI… to enhance your learning experience.” 🙄

Kodachrome Emulation

I’m really pleased to have received such a positive response to the last newsletter, where I wrote about Kodachrome and my plans to build a new and improved digital emulation for Lightroom and Photoshop.

That newsletter prompted more emails than any other. Lots of reminiscing and stories from photographers with fond memories of working with Kodachrome, both professionally and less formally.

The new Kodachrome version is complete and undergoing some final testing. It should be publicly available, as planned, on Wednesday 13 August (a week today).

Before then, readers with a paid or founder member subscription will receive an email containing a private link and discount code.

Paid members = 25% discount
Founder members = 100% discount

As a special launch offer, the new Kodachrome pack will be on sale for €49 until 31 August 2025 (Full price: €89)

You’re in the Top 100

Finally, I’m always grateful to the readers of this newsletter. Writing it is fun and I often think that reading it is where the really dedicated, hard work is done.

So congratulations to you, dear reader, for your perseverance and dedication. Last week Beyond the Frame entered the list of Top 100 Substack Art & Illustration newsletters at number 76. And I’ve just received a notification that we’ve risen to number 51 this week.

Refer a friend

My thanks to you for all your hard work. Keep it up. 😁

Until next time, go well.