Joan Fontcuberta's 'Against Barthes' Sparks Debate on Photography's AI Future in ZUM Essay
In a ZUM column named "A fotografia do futuro," Portuguese author Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida collaborates with photographer Humberto Brito to examine Joan Fontcuberta's book Against Barthes, the eye and the index (Mack Books, 2025). They challenge Fontcuberta's assertion that AI will supplant traditional cameras, contending that photography will evolve into an "emanation of the text" instead of reflecting reality. The essay references Fontcuberta's personal experience of losing part of his index finger at 13, which informs his emphasis on indexicality. They critique his rigid adherence to indexical principles and caution that AI-generated visuals will necessitate enhanced descriptive abilities. While they suggest future photography might resemble literature, they affirm that photography is already a distinct art form. The article also touches on visual saturation and the waning of the photographic instinct.
Key facts
- Joan Fontcuberta's book Against Barthes, the eye and the index was published by Mack Books in 2025.
- The ZUM column "A fotografia do futuro" is written by Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida and Humberto Brito.
- Fontcuberta predicts that AI will make cameras unnecessary, turning photography into an "emanation of the text" (écfrase reversa).
- Fontcuberta lost half of his index finger at age 13, which the authors connect to his focus on indexicality.
- Fontcuberta analyzed images from the Mexican tabloid Alarma! that recreated crimes with figurants.
- The authors argue that Fontcuberta remains bound to the indexical dogma he criticizes in Barthes.
- The essay questions whether every photograph expects a text and whether that text is singular.
- The authors conclude that the photography of the future may be literature, but that photography already serves that purpose.
Entities
Artists
- Joan Fontcuberta
- Roland Barthes
- Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida
- Humberto Brito
- John Berger
- Luigi Ghirri
- Michael Fried
- Virginia Woolf
- John Szarkowski
- Robert Adams
- Diane Arbus
- Wes Anderson
- Stephen Shore
- Charles Baudelaire
- Nicéphore Niépce
- Daido Moriyama
Institutions
- ZUM
- Mack Books
- Alarma!
- Universidade Nova de Lisboa
- Stanford University
- University of Lisbon
- University of Chicago
- NYU
- Associação Portuguesa de Escritores
- Prêmio Oceanos
- Grande Prêmio de Romance e Novela
Locations
- Portugal
- Mexico
- Lisbon
- Stanford
- Chicago
- New York
Sources
- ZUM IMS —