Why Brand Authenticity Still Matters
There’s a lot of hype around AI replacing jobs including commercial photographers … but the reality on the ground looks very different.
Here’s what I’m seeing in real commercial photography workflows:
AI is excellent for object removal & basic retouching Tidying / removing wires, removing traffic cones / for sale signs, cleaning backgrounds such as stains an brickwork … It’s a great time saver.
Batch grading & colour matching? Useful, but still not at a standard I’d deliver without manual correction at the moment
Most AI tools use credit based pricing, so there’s a cost as well as convenience.
Interestingly, AI isn’t speeding up my delivery times. In some cases it adds time because I can now refine areas I previously wouldn’t have considered.
The results are cleaner but still real. I don't do anything in post production I that couldn't have been done in the real world.
I’ve chosen not to use generative AI at all. I once used it to anonymise people in the background of a public shot… and the client rejected it. They’re a trust based brand with a strict “no AI-generated content” policy
That experience reinforced something important that authenticity and credibility matter more now than ever before.
Authenticity matters more than ever in a world of AI
In order to build credibility businesses still want and need
- Real staff
- Real locations
- Real customers
- Real environments
AI images can look incredible…. but they feel more like stock imagery than authentic storytelling.
Commercial photography isn’t going anywhere just at the moment. Because what clients value and need isn’t just technical skill:
It’s their expertise in;
- direction
- planning
- narrative creation
..... and of course service, that’s something AI can’t replicate.
Photography’s authenticity has weathered every crisis so far and it’s this lasting characteristic that will carry it forward in the AI era.
Matthew Jones is a Commercial photographer who started out using film and a dark room in a spare bedroom. He is known for his Event Photography and Industrial Photography.
#CommercialPhotography #AIandPhotography #AuthenticBranding #CreativeIndustry #MarketingPhotography #VisualStorytelling #BrandTrust
