EMEIS DEUBEL: Florian Bison "Asphalt Dreams"

Let’s face it – whether we like it or not, AI is here to stay and will forever change how we live our lives. And whether I like it or not, it’s going to change photography too. Instead of reminiscing about the good old days, I teamed up with my friends at Protokoll Group and stylist Lotta Meyer to take her new urban outdoor collection into uncharted territory. ASPHALT DREAMS blends real-life portraits with AI-generated environments. Meaning all talents were shot and lit in studio, while the backgrounds were created using AI models. The secret sauce? A mix of MidJourney, Stable Diffusion, Photoshop. And patience. I mean lots of patience. With AI still in its early stages, it wasn’t as simple as pushing a button. We researched shoot requirements, ran dozens of tests, tweaked perspectives and fine-tuned the depth of field to ensure the final images felt seamless and natural. I much rather shoot stuff on a ‘real’ set - and I always will. But there is lots of potential in exploring how AI can complement and elevate photography (and where it cannot).