Notes on a post I found written by Tom May titled "Why a photographer's perspective will matter more in the future, not less" see link at the bottom of post for the original.

I found an article that made a central argument that as AI makes technical image production easier, the photographer’s perspective, taste, ability to see, frame, direct and notice becomes more valuable. The person being interviewed in the article describes AI primarily as an assistant for ideation, mood boards, planning and extending photographs, rather than the source of the creative direction itself.

The important distinction is this:

AI is making images abundant. It is not making good photographers abundant.

And those are increasingly two different things.

The photography market is likely to split

There is a portion of photography that AI will absolutely commoditize: Generic stock photography, basic conceptual images, simple backgrounds, filler social-media imagery and some low-end commercial production can increasingly be generated rather than photographed.

So I wouldn't tell photographers, "Don't worry, AI won't affect photography."

It will.

But it primarily attacks the value of producing an image, not necessarily the value of being a photographer.

Photography at a high level contains a whole collection of skills AI doesn't magically give someone:

• knowing where to put the camera

• recognizing extraordinary light

• seeing the photograph before other people see it

• understanding composition instinctively

• directing someone who is uncomfortable in front of a camera

• noticing expression, gesture and body language

• creating rapport

• getting access to people, locations and situations

• understanding what a client is really trying to communicate

• making hundreds of visual decisions during a shoot

• editing ruthlessly

• developing a recognizable visual point of view

That is what Adler means when she argues that perspective becomes the photographer's greatest asset as execution becomes easier.

And I would add another important factor.

Reality itself may become premium content

For decades photographers competed partly on image quality.

Now we are entering a world where almost anyone can produce an apparently beautiful image.

That changes the scarcity.

The scarce thing becomes:

This actually happened.
This person actually exists.
This hotel actually looks like this.
This food was actually prepared here.
This executive actually stood in front of this camera.
This moment actually occurred.

That's potentially enormously valuable.

The development of the C2PA Content Credentials standard is evidence that the industry is already taking provenance seriously. It allows digital content to carry information about its origin, edits and whether AI was involved. The standard is explicitly designed to distinguish and document how media was created.

So I can imagine authentic capture becoming a selling feature rather than something photographers simply assume.

Instead of:

"Professional photography."

A commercial photographer may increasingly be selling:

"Original, authenticated visual assets created specifically for your business."

That is quite a different value proposition.

There is another major advantage photographers have

Photographers have exceptionally good training for using AI well.

Think about prompting an image generator.

Someone without visual training might say:

Woman in a hotel looking elegant at sunset.

A skilled photographer is thinking:

85mm perspective. Camera slightly below eye level. Subject turned away from key light. Late-afternoon side lighting. Background two stops darker. Shallow depth of field. Warm highlights, cooler shadows. Negative space left for copy. Relaxed hands. Avoid symmetrical pose.

That person understands why an image works.

AI can execute instructions remarkably well, but somebody still has to make the visual decisions.

This means photographers can move upstream, from camera operator toward:

visual director → image maker → curator → photographer → AI-assisted post-production → brand storyteller.

That is a much bigger job.

The photographer becomes the source, AI becomes the multiplier

Adler gives a good example in the article. She photographed an artist safely in a studio and then used generative tools to create the surrounding environment. The photograph supplied the real human subject; AI expanded what could be created around it.

I think this hybrid model is potentially one of the strongest commercial opportunities.

Imagine a company hires a photographer for one day.

Instead of delivering 50 photographs, the photographer creates a visual source library.

Real photographs of:

people
products
property
details
environment
textures
staff
customers
architecture
food
activities

Those photographs then become trusted source material from which the photographer can create dozens or hundreds of additional brand assets.

Different crops.

Different formats.

Campaign concepts.

Website banners.

Social content.

Advertising.

Composites.

Seasonal variations.

Background extensions.

Graphic treatments.

Possibly motion.

The photographer hasn't become less important.

The photography session has become the raw material for an entire visual ecosystem.

That's a much more interesting business.

And human subjects make photographers harder to replace

There's another part of Adler's argument I think deserves much more attention.

She talks about being personable and being able to work with people, saying communication can be as important as technical ability.

That's particularly important for portrait, corporate, fashion, hospitality, documentary, wedding and personal-brand photography.

A nervous CEO doesn't need someone who knows aperture.

They need someone who can make them forget about the camera.

A hotel doesn't only need pictures of rooms.

Someone has to notice the bartender laughing with a guest, the morning light across the breakfast room, the interaction between chef and staff, the little moments that communicate what staying there feels like.

AI can invent those scenes.

The photographer can discover them.

That's a very meaningful distinction.

So what becomes less valuable?

Technical competence by itself.

Knowing Photoshop isn't enough.

Owning expensive cameras isn't enough.

Knowing lighting diagrams isn't enough.

Being able to produce technically perfect photographs isn't enough.

AI and computational photography continue reducing the competitive advantage of technical execution.

The stronger moat becomes:

Taste + seeing + access + relationships + direction + experience + authorship + trust.

And this is why experienced photographers may actually have an advantage.

Years of looking through a camera produce something difficult to shortcut: visual judgment.

AI can dramatically increase what someone with visual judgment can produce.

It doesn't automatically give visual judgment to someone who doesn't have it.

I would therefore change the photographer's business proposition

Old model:

"Hire me to take photographs."

Better model:

"I create the authentic visual foundation of your brand and use photography, creative direction and new imaging technology to turn it into a complete visual system."

Now the photographer isn't competing against AI.

AI becomes part of the photographer's production department.

And the camera becomes one of several tools available to them.

There is one caveat: the Creative Boom piece is sponsored content connected with Adobe's Creative Collective, so I wouldn't treat it as neutral industry research. But the underlying argument is sound, and the movement toward verifiable media provenance gives one part of it some independent substance.

I think there is an even bigger business opportunity hiding inside this for commercial photographers: stop selling photography as the final product and start selling original photography as the foundation for an AI-enabled content system. That could completely change what a photographer charges for, how often clients need them, and what gets delivered.

Link to blog post: Lindsay Adler on why a photographer's perspective will matter more in the future, not less

What I mean by “original photography as the foundation for an AI-enabled content system” is a fairly major repositioning of what a photographer sells.

The photographer stops thinking:

I photograph things and deliver photographs.

And starts thinking:

I create the original visual source material from which a client’s entire content ecosystem can be built.

That sounds like a small wording change. Commercially, it is enormous.

1. The photograph becomes a visual asset, not just a finished image

Traditionally the workflow is:

Photoshoot → retouch → deliver JPEGs → job finished.

The new workflow can be:

Photoshoot → build authentic source library → create variations → adapt across channels → generate supporting assets → continually reuse and refresh.

The original photograph might be only the first-generation asset.

From one strong photograph you could potentially create:

• website hero versions

• horizontal and vertical versions

• social-media crops

• advertising layouts

• email headers

• editorial graphics

• seasonal campaign treatments

• background extensions

• negative-space versions for copy

• alternate environments

• graphic overlays

• product composites

• short motion pieces

• presentation imagery

• printed collateral

• campaign concepts

That means the economic value of the original photograph changes.

It isn't simply:

“Here is one photograph.”

It becomes:

“Here is an authenticated visual source from which we can create a family of brand assets.”

2. Think of the photographer creating a Visual Source Library

This is probably the most important part of the model.

Imagine photographing a boutique hotel.

The traditional photographer might deliver:

150 finished photographs.

Very nice.

But consider a different approach.

The photographer deliberately builds a Hotel Visual Source Library.

Property

Exterior
rooms
bathrooms
pool
restaurant
spa
gardens
views
architecture

People

owners
manager
chef
bartender
housekeeping
spa staff
guests/models

Experience

breakfast
poolside
arrival
cocktails
dining
spa treatment
walking through the property
sunset

Details

food
linens
flowers
signage
table settings
amenities
textures
architectural details

Brand elements

logos
signage
packaging
menus
uniforms
colours
materials

Environmental material

walls
stone
water
plants
sky
wood
fabric
shadows
patterns

Now you have something AI can work with extremely well.

You aren't asking AI:

“Invent a luxury Portuguese hotel.”

You're giving it the actual hotel.

That distinction matters enormously.

3. The photographer establishes visual truth

The originals become the ground truth.

Real building.

Real staff.

Real food.

Real products.

Real atmosphere.

Real location.

Real brand.

Then AI can assist with transformation without having to invent the identity of the company from scratch.

Think of it like this:

Layer 1 — Reality

Photography.

Layer 2 — Creative interpretation

Photography + retouching + compositing + AI.

Layer 3 — Distribution

Website, social, advertising, print, email, video, presentations, campaigns.

The client now has a much more scalable content system.

4. And this solves one of AI's biggest commercial problems

Suppose a restaurant owner types:

“Create a beautiful photograph of grilled sea bass in a Portuguese seaside restaurant.”

AI can make a gorgeous image.

But there is a problem.

That may not be:

their fish
their plates
their restaurant
their chef
their tables
their view
their brand.

It is visually appealing but commercially generic.

Now give the system professionally photographed source material from the actual restaurant.

Suddenly the creative possibilities change.

The photographer could photograph:

the real dish
the real dining room
the real terrace
the real chef
the real ocean view
the real crockery

And those become ingredients for future content.

AI isn't replacing reality.

It is expanding what can be done with captured reality.

5. This completely changes the photoshoot brief

And this is where I think photographers need to rethink how they shoot.

A conventional photographer asks:

“What photographs does the client need?”

The next-generation photographer asks:

“What visual material will we need to build with for the next six months?”

Very different question.

You might deliberately photograph something with:

more negative space
clean backgrounds
separate foreground/background elements
multiple angles
multiple expressions
different poses
isolated products
environmental plates
textures
details
vertical and horizontal framing

because you know those components can later be recombined.

You're almost creating a visual vocabulary.

6. One photoshoot could create months of content

Imagine a personal-brand client.

Traditional package:

Executive Branding Session

2-hour shoot
3 locations
4 outfits
40 finished images

Done.

Instead:

Personal Brand Content System

You photograph:

headshots
three-quarter portraits
full-length portraits
speaking
working
walking
meeting
laptop
phone
coffee
whiteboard
studio/office
environment
details
expressions
gestures
multiple backgrounds

Then build:

Original Photography Library

Perhaps 80–150 core assets.

Then:

Content Asset Library

From those originals:

LinkedIn graphics
website banners
newsletter imagery
article headers
quote graphics
presentation backgrounds
podcast artwork
event promotion
speaker graphics
social posts
launch materials

The client isn't really buying photography anymore.

They are buying:

six months of visual communication.

That's a much easier business value to understand.

7. AI dramatically increases asset yield

This is where the economics become interesting.

Previously:

1 photograph ≈ 1 asset.

Perhaps you could crop it a few ways.

Now:

1 photograph could become 5, 10 or 20 usable derivatives.

Not every derivative should be wildly AI generated.

Most shouldn't.

Some of the most useful applications are very practical.

For example:

Extend a background

The client suddenly needs a 16:9 hero image.

Original was vertical.

Extend the environment.

Create copy space

The marketing department needs text on the left.

Extend the left side.

Remove temporary distractions

Signs, furniture, people or construction that shouldn't be there.

Produce campaign formats

Square
vertical
horizontal
banner
presentation

Create contextual variations

Same authentic product, several campaign environments.

Build simple motion

Subtle movement from an existing photograph.

Now photography begins behaving more like intellectual property than a disposable deliverable.

8. The photographer can also create a Brand Visual Model

This gets even more interesting.

Over time the photographer learns:

how the brand uses light
how people are portrayed
which colours dominate
how much negative space is used
which lenses/perspectives feel right
what kinds of environments fit
how food is styled
what the brand should never look like

You essentially develop a visual rulebook.

Then AI tools can be directed according to those rules.

So instead of:

“Generate something luxurious.”

You have:

Brand Visual Intelligence

Warm natural light.
Human rather than staged.
Coastal Mediterranean palette.
No exaggerated saturation.
Architecture remains accurate.
Guests appear relaxed rather than aspirational-fashion posed.
Materials must remain recognisable.
Avoid generic resort imagery.

Now AI output becomes much more controlled.

And guess who is exceptionally qualified to establish those rules?

The photographer who understands visual language.

9. This creates recurring revenue

This might be the biggest business-model implication.

Photography has historically had a problem:

shoot → deliver → disappear.

You constantly need another booking.

A content system makes the relationship ongoing.

For example:

Foundation Shoot

Create the core photographic library.

Then:

Monthly Content Production

Each month:

select original photographs
create new variations
produce campaign imagery
prepare social assets
refresh advertising visuals
develop seasonal content

Then quarterly:

Refresh Shoot

Photograph anything new:

staff
menu
products
rooms
services
season
events

Which enters the system.

So instead of:

€1,500 photoshoot

you might eventually sell something structured more like:

Visual Foundation Project

plus

monthly visual content retainer

plus

quarterly photography refreshes.

That's a fundamentally healthier business.

10. There are actually three products

I would separate the offer into three layers.

1. Capture

Authentic Photography

The truth layer.

Real people.
Real places.
Real products.
Real experiences.

2. Create

Visual Content Production

Photography plus:

retouching
compositing
design
AI-assisted production
campaign imagery
format adaptation

3. Deploy

Content System

Organise and prepare assets according to where they're actually going:

website
Google
Instagram
LinkedIn
email
advertising
print
booking platforms
PR
sales material

The photographer has moved substantially higher up the value chain.

11. It also gives clients something AI generators alone cannot provide

Imagine two hotel websites.

Hotel A uses completely generated imagery.

Beautiful.

Hotel B uses extraordinary real photography, intelligently enhanced and expanded when necessary.

Also beautiful.

Which one makes you more comfortable booking a €400-a-night hotel?

Probably Hotel B.

Because you want to know:

What am I actually buying?

The closer a business is to selling a real-world experience, the stronger this becomes.

Hospitality.

Tourism.

Restaurants.

Architecture.

Property.

Events.

Fashion.

Personal brands.

Professional services.

Luxury goods.

Travel.

The physical world gives photography an important defensive position.

12. I would create different classes of images

This is important because clients shouldn't become confused about what is real.

I would establish something like:

AUTHENTIC

Pure photography.

Captured reality with normal photographic processing.

ENHANCED

Real photograph with AI-supported retouching, extension or cleanup.

COMPOSITE

Real photographic subject combined with modified/generated elements.

GENERATED

Fully synthetic visual.

This makes the entire process much more trustworthy.

It may eventually become a competitive advantage.

13. And there is an important creative principle here

I would not position this as:

“AI photography.”

That makes the photographer sound less valuable.

I would position AI exactly where it belongs:

behind the photographer.

Something more like:

Original photography first. Intelligent image production second.

Or:

Real photography. Expanded possibilities.

Or:

We capture what is real, then build what your brand needs.

That feels much stronger.

14. The business you are actually building

Take this far enough and the photographer stops being a supplier.

They become something closer to a:

Visual Brand Partner

The client comes to them for:

Photography
Creative direction
Visual strategy
Content production
AI image production
Asset management
Campaign development
Brand consistency

Photography remains at the centre because it supplies originality, reality and ownership of the visual source material.

AI supplies scale.

That's the relationship I find most interesting:

Photography creates scarcity. AI creates abundance from that scarcity.

You need both.

And if I were building this commercially, I would make the photographic source library itself a named product.

For example:

Brand Image Bank

or

Visual Source Library

or

Authentic Content Library

Then the larger service becomes something like:

Visual Content System

Capture once. Build continuously.

That is potentially much more compelling than selling another “branding photography package.”

And, commercially, I think this is where the idea gets particularly interesting for hotels, restaurants, tourism businesses, corporate events and personal brands because they all have the same problem: they constantly need new content, but they don't necessarily need — or want to pay for — a new full photoshoot every week. A properly constructed original photography library gives you the raw material to solve that problem.