Real Pictures 
1994 - 2024
In 2022, in response to the emergence of text-to-image generation models, Philippe Braquenier reflected on how these AI systems might interpret the descriptions from Alfredo Jaar’s installation Real Pictures (1995). Real Pictures consists of rectangular elements evoking the clean aesthetic of minimalist sculptures. However, each boxes that make up the installation contain a photograph taken by the artist, depicting various aspects of the Rwandan genocide—images that the viewer cannot see. On each box, Alfredo Jaar described the image it contains, creating an installation that is part cemetery, part archive.
The genesis of this new project stems from discovering that Adobe is commercially distributing AI-generated images depicting the recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This led to a broad reflection on the demise of photojournalism. The new challenge now lies in managing an abundance of AI generated images and faithfully portraying the world as it is. A recent study reveals that in only 1,5 years of existence, AI has generated the same quantity of images as photography did in 150 years. With the saturation of images that have no links with reality anymore, there is a risk that it can gradually corrode people's knowledge of what really happened. 
Philippe Braquenier’s iteration echoes Alfredo Jaar’s concerns about the quality of information and his feeling of being “bombarded by images.” Built as a digital art installation, it includes videos of AI-generated images slowly morphing into one other. The prompts used to generate these images are derived from the captions of the initial 'Real Pictures' project. 
This work questions our perception of authenticity and the potential disruption of our interpretation of images in the age of artificial intelligence, it explores a possible upheaval: the potential death of images as a (yet unperfect) reliable form of communication.
Ntarama church, Nyamata, Rwanda
40 kilometers south of Kigali
Monday, August 29, 1994
This photograph shows Benjamin Musis, 50, crouched low in the doorway of the church amongst scattered bodies spilling out in the daylight. Four hundred Tutsi men, women and children who had come here seeking refuge, were slaughtered during Sunday mass.
Benjamin looks directly into the camera, as if recording what the camera saw. He asked to be photographed amongst the dead. He wanted to prove his friends in Kampala, Uganda, that the atrocities were real and that he had seen the aftermath.