Thierry Maindrault’s Monthly Cogitations
All the major international and national photography festivals have set up shop for the summer. All photographers across the globe—those truly deserving of the title and worthy of bearing with proud—have resumed their grumbling. This follows a pattern that has been firmly established for the past twenty years or so; for nothing is going right in the world of photographic creation—this is nothing new and, unfortunately, justified given a situation that is objectively getting worse.
When it comes to photo exhibitions, presentations of work, and book publications, it has now been several years since the creators of photographic works have lost control over their own destinies. This is despite perfectly valid Global agreements, European regulations and national laws that are constantly flouted. All of this benefits an overabundance of bureaucrats who no longer know what to invent to get noticed. All these curators, decision-makers, and financiers who are capable of anything except actually taking a photograph. The selection criteria for what is exhibited or published are based on choices that really have nothing to do with photography anymore.
Two clear examples of what’s happening behind our backs (I often wonder if some of us aren’t deliberately turning a blind eye, like ostriches). Upon reading the program for the opening week (formerly “Professional Week,” now without any professional, who’ve stayed home) of what claims to be the world’s largest place to see photographies gathering, I remained skeptical. The number of talks, symposia, and other roundtables—not to mention the supposedly indispensable image explanations—outnumbers the number of exhibitions. There is “blah-blah” about everything and anything, especially about utter nonsense. All these open-door meetings will quibble over copyrights (which no longer exist), now reduced to a small part of their former selves for creators. This is not the case for the percentages going to rights collectors, who have even gone so far as to hand out honorary awards and other perks! We’ll philosophize about the evolution of digital technology (AI, the “affective generation”—in short, all sorts of nonsense, in the style of high level stupidities, spouted by people who claim to be thinkers but who don’t actually contribute anything at all). We shall affirm the now-essential and vital role of women in photography and their ability to finally create artistic works in new ways (what happen for the many women who came before them, leaving us superb masterpieces?). Enough said!
Meanwhile, on the other side of Europe, one of the many events plagiarizing the Arles gathering is presenting its 2026 photographic selections. Judging by the exhibition halls, the photographs are, once again, merely a pretext—in this case, to showcase set designs, each more deliriously creative than the last. You know, those photography exhibitions that require both a floor mat so you can lie flat on your stomach and a double ladder to catch a glimpse of the works relegated beneath the corner of high ceilings. Ultimately, given the photographs on display, it doesn’t really matter that they serve only as elements in a scenographic installation.
This isn’t the Athens Photo Festival 2026 anymore—it’s become the Athens Sceno Festival 2026.
We have known for about twenty years that administrative incompetence has taken over our photographic world; however, it’s becoming a full-blown invasion, and that’s not just by chance. We’re largely to blame. Our legendary laziness: just press the button and avoid the tedious lab work (analog or digital—same struggle). The same goes for showcasing and disseminating our work.
No one reacted when the pooling of our copyrights took hold behind our backs. No one lifted a finger when charlatans began signing works on our behalf, producing absurdly large number of prints runs (the rule of a maximum of 30 prints—set in advance for all sizes, colors, and media—was flouted left and right). No one lifted a finger when financial officials decided to exclude photographs from tax exemptions (it’s true that some had abused the system so much that we all ended up paying the price). No one intervened when so-called internet players copied our images to post them—without authorization—on social media; or when they outright stole them to claim them as their own.
The final stage of our self-destruction lies in the worst using of information technology or any other forms of autonomous management that are quietly taking root in social life. While all the deluge of information extolling pseudo-artificial intelligence is, to say the least, fanciful, the fact remains that the plundering of creativity is no myth. The proliferation of data storage in the form of data centers (the second man-made calamity, after plastic), combined with speeds of information flow that are hard to imagine, enables basic assemblages. This is what is known as generative processing. However sophisticated it may be, it is merely the use of a tool that, at best, will produce a forgery or an incoherent assemblage in the eyes of any human with a brain. The question arises regarding those who spontaneously swoon over the results—whether to gain personal advantage (if such people may have a brain) or out of incompetence.
Our collective rights managers see no problem with this; it pads their pockets. Galleries find a few trendy works to add to their portfolios. Publishers spot a few more suckers ready to break the bank just to have their name on a book cover. Festival directors add another string to their already well-stocked bow, which includes portfolio reviews, workshops, and other “chic and sophisticated” events.
In our magazine—the most widely read by photographers worldwide—we’ve been drawing attention to and discussing with you for several years now the various scourges that are ruining human intelligence and impoverishing photographic creation.
This cannot go on any longer, and I no longer wish to resort to tearful rhetoric.
This week I read philosopher Eric Satin’s op-ed in *Le Monde*. He analyzes the destructive role of generative AI in literary publishing. At the end of his brilliant indictment, he suggests avenues that fully align with our various approaches. In particular, it is time to declare a true war on creative deception. At stake is nothing less than the survival—for our successors and ourselves—of discernment and hope.
I propose that, effective immediately, you clearly write the following draft text on the back of each of your photographs and on your certificates of authenticity (next to your signature and any serial number), in addition to the copyright notice: “The author of this photograph, which is strictly protected by copyright, certifies on his or her honor that the creation, conception, and production of this image were carried out without any use of a digital system and/or an automated process for retrieving information and/or designing through external additions. ”
With regard to your participation in group projects, you require that the following draft text be clearly displayed at the entrance to an exhibition, in the lobby of a festival, or on the information page of a book: “The authors and all other contributors (curators, artistic directors, set designers, graphic designers, publishers, etc.) jointly certify on their honor that the preparation, design, and production of the artwork presented to the public (festival, exhibition, book, etc.) took place without any use of digital and/or automated information-retrieval systems and/or systems that generate designs through external additions.”
It is not very complicated and can be implemented immediately, without waiting for official decisions that arrive only after the battle and when the patient has passed away.
I welcome all your comments and suggestions to improve these two texts.
If we lack the courage to affix this—formal—commitment to our works, our projects, and our guarantees, then we no longer have any grounds to voice our desperate complaints. This commitment to honesty toward the public can be endorsed by all photographers on our planet, without logical exception.
Thierry Maindrault – July 10, 2026
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