Model-generated images / From photograph through model

Hermit

Beginning with a photograph made in rural Andhra Pradesh more than two decades ago, Hermit follows one figure through a generative model. The body persists as ornament, machinery, and cultural reference are recomposed. Authorship moves among the photographed encounter, the model, and the act of selection.

An ongoing study / the body over time

From Lived Encounter to Simulacrum

Hermit returns to a photograph of an encounter in rural Andhra Pradesh. For me, none of its generated transformations carries the same force as that original: a seemingly timeless image of ascetic life, rooted in practices that have endured across the Indian subcontinent for millennia. AI opens profound possibilities for imagining alternative futures from this encounter. What of its presence survives the transformation?

Earlier Hermit cyborg interpretation with ambiguous fingers in the hands resting on the floor — Look at the hands resting on the floor: finger shapes and joints are difficult to separate.

2026 interpretation of the original seated hermit photograph, with brass mechanisms and clearly separated fingers — Distinct fingers, knuckles, and wrists give the hands a more readable structure.

The 2024 diffusion studies, despite their unresolved anatomy, seem closer to the original’s dark, austere atmosphere. The 2026 language-model-based interpretations offer greater precision and control, yet tend towards an idealised finish that feels further from the encounter. [I have not yet revisited the work with today’s diffusion models.] This comparison concerns these particular images.

Through Baudrillard’s idea of the simulacrum, the sequence suggests a movement towards the hyperreal: an increasingly perfected image whose persuasive surface loosens its connection to lived experience. What becomes more convincing as an image may become less faithful to the presence that made the photograph compelling.

Transformations / 7 images

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