I’ve been a professional photographer for over 25 years, long enough to have seen the industry reinvent itself more than once. Film to digital. Darkrooms to Lightroom. Each shift was greeted with predictions of the end. And now, of course, it’s AI.

There’s no doubt AI is changing photography. Images can be generated without a camera, a subject, or a moment ever having existed. For certain uses - stock imagery, generic visuals, fast commercial content - AI will probably replace traditional photography. In some areas, it already has.

But photography has never been just about producing an image.

What AI can’t do – thankfully – is turn up on a wedding day or a portrait shoot and read a room. It can’t gain someone’s trust, understand someones business, anticipate a moment, or notice the quiet exchange happening just out of the spotlight. It can’t respond to unpredictability, emotion, or human nuance in real time.

For photographers like me, with years of experience working with people, pets, places and stories, AI isn’t a replacement - it’s a filter. It will likely remove some of the noise from the industry, but it won’t replace the value of observation, judgement, story telling and connection.

The role of the photographer may narrow, but it will also sharpen. Clients who want something quick, generic or artificial will have options. Those who want honesty, real moments and meaning will still need a human being behind the camera.

Photography isn’t dying. It’s being clarified.

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