Richard K. Hernandez: A Deep Conversation on AI and the Future of Photography

In this episode of Eyeshot 50mm, Richard Koci Hernandez reflects on photography, AI, Instagram, visual journalism, and what it means to make images in a world already overflowing with them. A photographer, visual storyteller, educator, and one of the most influential voices in contemporary image-making, Hernandez moves through the major shifts that shaped his career: film photojournalism, the digital transition, multimedia journalism, mobile photography, Instagram, and now AI-assisted visual culture. Rather than treating new tools as threats, he argues that photographers must understand them before they can criticize, reject, or use them with clarity.The conversation explores photography’s unstable relationship with truth, the future of photojournalism, the role of transparency, the limits of AI-generated imagery, and why this may be one of the most important moments for a new generation of visual journalists and image-makers.