PhotoVogue Festival 2023: The Talks
This conversation took place on November 18th 2023 as part of the PhotoVogue Festival 2023 which centered around the theme “What Makes us Human?: Image in the Age of A.I.”
The most powerful evidence in history is visual. The right image not only exposes injustice but can help put a stop to it.
Exhibit-AI shares the stories of refugees who were detained in Australia’s offshore processing centres, and in partnership with these individuals, turns these stories into striking images.
Taken in the course of litigation against the Commonwealth of Australia, the 32 statements contained in the project comprise one of the most comprehensive accounts of those who were indefinitely detained and subjected to atrocious conditions in these centres. However, words alone can only communicate so much. Images are a powerful way of not only exposing injustice but helping put a stop to it.
However, camera equipment, journalists and phones were restricted or altogether banned in Australia’s offshore detention centres. There was little visual evidence of life inside. To make the invisible seen and restore humanity to thousands whose trauma has been hidden from view, the statements of survivors were fed into AI technology to generate photorealistic images of what took place. The visuals were workshopped with witnesses to ensure the images accurately reflected their experiences.
This session will talk about how Exhibit-AI came to life and what the legacy of this project will be.
Nicki Lees is a Special Counsel at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers in Melbourne, Australia. For almost a decade, she has run human rights cases in Australia, including challenging the detention of children in immigration detention centres and the protection of First Nation land rights.
Nicki has recently been involved in the creation of Exhibit A-I, a project collating dozens of witness statements filed in the Federal Court of Australia detailing the lived reality of refugees and people seeking asylum held in Australia’s regional processing centres. These statements were fed into AI technology to generate photorealistic images of life in these centres.
Nicki holds a Masters in International Law (with Distinction) from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland.
“Making the invisible, visible: Pictures as the most powerful force for change” is part of day 2 "Picturing the Future: A.I. and the Evolution of Visual Storytelling" of the Symposium taking place at BASE Milano on Saturday 18th November.
The event is free and everyone is welcome to attend.
The recording of this panel will be uploaded after the Festival.
Saturday 18th November - Day 2 “Picturing the Future: A.I. and the Evolution of Visual Storytelling” will also feature:
- “Blending ART + SCIENCE: A Human Approach towards the Future of Creativity” by Alessandra Sala
- “Pretty Girls Look Like This: A.I., Photography and Racism within digital media” Mutale Nkonde
- "90 Miles - A.I. Reportage Illustration” Michael Christopher Brown
- “Broken Mirror. A dystopian guide to crossing the border” Filippo Venturi
- “Making the invisible, visible: Pictures as the most powerful force for change.” Nicki Lees
- "Envisioning Tomorrow: A.I. and the Future of Visual Narratives", Group discussion
- “What Makes Us Human?” with Paola Mieli, Paolo Benanti, and Giacomo Rizzolatti
PhotoVogue Festival is a project directed by Alessia Glaviano (Head of Global PhotoVogue) and co-curated by Francesca Marani (Senior Photo Editor, Vogue Italia), Chiara Bardelli Nonino (Editor, Writer and Curator), Daniel Rodríguez Gordillo (Content Operations Strategy Manager, Condé Nast) and Caterina De Biasio (Visual Editor, PhotoVogue)
