AI Lightroom and the film about the photo “Napalm Girl” – Photo News of the Week

Welcome to one of the shortest editions of this column so far. There's hardly anything happening in the world of photography, which can probably only be attributed to Black Friday. It would also be quite crazy for a major hardware or software provider to offer a new, expensive product during the worldwide hunt for bargains. Despite many global crises, the shopping frenzy continued with slight growth.

Since Adobe has relied on a subscription model for years, the de facto market leader for image and video editing doesn't have to hold back: This week, Lightroom 9.0 with numerous automatic functions was released. These are predominantly AI-powered and also replace programs like "Portrait Pro," which caused a sensation ten years ago with convincing beauty retouching. Smoothing skin blemishes, removing that stray hair from the face – Lightroom can now do that too.

Adobe displaces Adobe, but that doesn't matter

And dust or pixel errors from sensors can also be removed. This goes far beyond Lightroom's previous "healing brush" function, and many of the automatic features replace the fiddling with Photoshop. But since you only get the latter via subscription in the full version, Adobe doesn't care. And the fact that one of Affinity's major competitor packages recently became free – if you forgo AI – probably also prompted Adobe to set the date for the new Lightroom. Or the fact that even the market leader is somewhat affected by Black Friday, as annual subscriptions for Adobe packages are now available at reduced prices from many providers.

The Netflix documentary about the photo “Napalm Girl”

If there are doubts about a historical photograph that has also been printed in school textbooks – then, of course, Netflix makes a documentary about it. Especially if the protagonists are all still alive, you can travel to a foreign country, and it all has to do with the traumas of the Vietnam War. This is the perfect plot for what is now called a "docu," more of an entertaining than an revealing format. Netflix has released several such productions in recent years, with varying quality.

However, it is undisputed that the discussion around "Napalm Girl," the photo of the severely injured girl Phan Thi Kim Phúc from 1972, is not just about Netflix subscriptions. Based in part on the film "The Stringer," the organization World Press Photo withdrew recognition for the image only this year. But not only based on interviews with contemporary witnesses – whose memories are often incomplete after 50 years – but also based on technical investigations.

In addition to the now undeniable fact that Út technically could not have taken the photo, "The Stringer" makes several other claims. These will not be mentioned here, suffice it to say: one of the possible originators of the photo can no longer prove it unequivocally because his wife disposed of the only print. The dog ate my homework? Yes, something like that. But, without wanting to make light of it: the alleged exploitation of local employees by photo agencies is a topic that alone makes "The Stringer" worth watching. Therefore, the film available worldwide available worldwide since this week is our recommendation for a long watch on Sunday evening. And next week, we can reveal that there will be a new camera in the photo news again.

(nie)