Fake Collection

Collection Cost

Kathleen S. Murphy | Lapham's Quarterly | 18th October 2023

Ripple effects of the slave trade are still being uncovered. Natural history in the 17C and 18C relied on slave traders as collectors. "A specimen gathered by a Fante person in the Gold Coast, then acquired by a British slaving mariner, transported on a slaving vessel to an American port of disembarkation and then to London, might find its way to the Royal Society's meeting rooms" (1,740 words)

Fake It ’Til You Fake It

Nick Heer | Pixel Envy | 8th October 2023

Image manipulation is older than we think. Stalin had officials who displeased him cut out of group photographs. In 1851 Edouard Baldus layered multiple exposures to create a single photograph. While there is legitimate cause for concern about what the latest AI-assisted computational photography tools might produce, it has always been a good idea to be sceptical about the images we see (2,390 words)