VSCO has launched a new brand campaign in what it says reaffirms the company’s commitment to photographers amid claims that "photography is dying" as social media platforms push trends and AI-generated imagery proliferates.
Launched May 12, the campaign aims to inspire photographers to remain dedicated to the craft at a time when VSCO says photography has “never mattered more.” Along with staving off fears of an AI takeover, VSCO also hopes to shine a “rare spotlight” on the creative process and rigor that goes into crafting photos and videos.
The in-house campaign revolves around the work of two New York-based photographers, Jared Thomas Tapy and Ivana Cajina, both VSCO users who were chosen for their "distinct visual perspective,” with a combination of digital, 35mm, and medium format film cameras employed for the project.
Spearheading the campaign messaging is a letter from company CEO, Eric Wittman who says: “Your eyes, the way you see the world, can't be generated. It can't be prompted. It's irreplaceable,” with Cajina reflecting the sentiment in an interview: “I truly don't believe AI can replace us.”
These words, and the campaign as a whole, take flight as the industry sees huge shifts, with photographers, including myself, lamenting the use of AI to generate images, but increasingly using the technology to make lighter work of the more repetitive, less-creative tasks in post-production.
In fact, VSCO recently published the results of a survey it conducted that highlighted 83% of photographers now use AI in their workflows in some capacity. The VSCO mobile app includes several AI tools, but in a letter to photographers, Whittman reaffirmed the company's commitment to "workflows that get out of your way."
Now, just to be clear, something tells me VSCO did not launch this new initiative purely out of goodwill, as speckled throughout the campaign webpages is a healthy number of opportunities to sign up to one of the platform’s subscriptions.
However, from my perspective, the company seemingly strikes a balance between championing photographers and pushing commercial aims.
The new VSCO campaign rolls out in May across TV, social, and digital out-of-home placements in major U.S. cities, including Austin, TX, New York, NY, and San Francisco, CA.
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