Nikon takes a stand

It's no question that the advent of AI, as both text and image generators, represents a tectonic shift in every facet of our culture. White collar workers across the spectrum are now facing the same challenges that have confronted their blue collar counterparts for years.

One of the most obvious demographics in the crosshairs are professional photographers, who can now be casually pushed aside by potential customers willing to leverage a few well placed keywords in Dall-E or Midjourney.

It's arguably the worse thing to happen to photographers since the introduction of stock venues like iStock or Getty. On a side note, stock photo sites are in trouble too (perhaps even more so), but I have less sympathy in their case.

Nikon Peru leaned into this quandary with an ingenious print & OOH ad campaign created by Circus Grey Peru, launched in June. Defiantly titled "Natural Intelligence," this campaign is built around a series of truly stunning photographs - all free of any algorithmic alchemy. These snapshots present "amazing natural places that are often stranger than fiction."

Each striking image is paired with the simple text overlay of a fictional keyword prompt modeled after Midjourney's interface. This prompt proposes the bizarre sort of query that might be required to generate the image at hand – were it artificial. But the underlying image is absolutely real, as an accompanying photo credit can attest.

Nikon delivers the final punch with its campaign tagline, demurely juxtaposed with their logo: "Don't give up on the real world."

Whether or not this campaign has any impact on slowing the inexorable advance of AI image generators is really beside the point. Its target audience – photographers everywhere, and particularly professional photographers – are very much on board with the sentiment. Nikon connects with their audience by reaffirming that a photographer's craft and creativity (coupled with Nikon equipment, of course) can still yield incredible results – arguably superior by virtue of their authenticity.

Circus Grey Peru's Chief Creative Officer Charlie Tolmos chimes in on the campaign's rationale: "Nikon has an important commitment to all the photographers in the world, who, with their talent and art, allowed us to enjoy the most beautiful and amazing images, which is why it was so important for us to take the initiative and support what has always given us a purpose as a brand: photography."

The power of this campaign is self evident, and I applaud it as a triumph of concept and design. Nike Peru is quite proud of it as well, boasting that it received a "99% positive sentiment" and "95% brand recognition" from its target audience. I hope it also prompted a lot of people going out and buying Nikon cameras. An even greater result would be if it veered potential customers away from AI and back to the professionals. But there, my skepticism takes over. The "Basic Plan" subscription fee for Midjourney is $10 per month. The average day rate of a photography studio (location work notwithstanding) ranges anywhere from $2k-$10k+ (for the prima donnas).

As a fun exercise, I wondered what the fictional prompts that the campaign paired with its imagery might yield when actually fed into Midjourney. The following images pair the real with the artificial.

Digital Duel

PROMPT: a mutant umbrella tree shaped like a nuclear bomb explosion

PROMPT: multicolored surreal mini volcanos erupting water like a fountain

PROMPT: a latte skatepark in the middle of the desert on Mars

PROMPT: a realistic Minecraft cliff at the seashore in winter season

PROMPT: an Egyptian pharaoh is hiding from his enemies in a sweet world made of chocolate

PROMPT: psychedelic mountain range painted in colors with expressionism art style

PROMPT: Manhattan skyscrapers a hundred years after the zombie apocalypse

I'm going to be honest. I was expecting to be underwhelmed by AI, but once again, it takes my breath away. The appeal of the Nikon originals is that they are in fact real, and the eye of the photographer is unmistakable. The Midjourney counterparts are certainly more illustrative and fantastical – and perhaps they take more literal directions – but still . . .

The point of this blog was to share a well designed case study, but the looming shadow of AI is unnerving. Well . . . have a nice day! Hakuna matata!

Ignore the man behind the curtain . . .

X is as X does.