At the recent 1839 Awards for photography, F L A M I N G O N E (2024) by Miles Astray won multiple prizes in categories for AI-generated art. It was awarded first place in the People’s Vote Award in the AI Category, as well as third place in the overall AI-generated art category. Only one problem: the photo was real, leading organizers to disqualify the photo.
The image features a pink flamingo with its head wrapped around itself, set against a white backdrop. Astray entered the genuine photograph into the competition to demonstrate the continued importance of human creativity amid the rise of AI art.
“The twist: the photo is as real as the simple belly scratch the bird is busy with,” Astray wrote on his website. He aimed to prove that “human-made content has not lost its relevance, that Mother Nature and her human interpreters can still beat the machine, and that creativity and emotion are more than just a string of digits.”
The juried prize is determined by a panel of judges from the New York Times, Christie’s, Phaidon, and other major art institutions. After the panel revoked the award, the organization removed the photograph from its website.
On the other hand, AI images have also won prizes for real photography. For example, Boris Eldagsen won the World Photography Organization’s Sony World Photography Awards with an AI-generated image. However, the artist declined the award, asserting that AI and real photography should be judged separately.
