The legendary photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson defined the "decisive moment" as the simultaneous recognition of an event’s significance and the precise organization of forms that express it. This is not something you can prompt for. It is a convergence a photographer earns through presence, attention, and judgment. It’s the half-breath before a laugh, a couple's suddenly self-conscious giggle when asked to stare deeply into one another's eyes, or the jocular, disarming glance between siblings after they've been given permission to make disgusting sounds and faces for the next full minute of picture-taking (seems like an eternity!). Pressing the shutter then is a decision, not just a reflex. An algorithm can predict patterns, but it cannot inhabit the tension in the air or the pressure that builds and resolves into a frame.
This moment arises from an experience that is becoming increasingly rare: the feeling of being truly “seen.” The purpose of a portrait session is not just to capture one’s likeness, like a painted portrait. It is to create a space where performance gives way to presence. For however long the session (maybe 30 minutes to one hour), the camera acts as a tool for focused, empathetic attention. My job as a photographer is to build trust quickly through patience and gentle direction, signaling that it’s safe to let down your guard. In this relational space, a subject is reflected back not as an object to be captured, but as a being(s) worthy of full attention. The experience itself; of being seen and captured without judgment. That is what allows someone’s genuine essence to emerge.
This human element is what gives photography its lasting power. A photograph is indexical. It is a direct trace of a lived experience. Light left a specific face at a specific time and made a mark, carrying the forensic residue of that feeling of being seen. AI can simulate the approximation of a scene, but it cannot possess the of-ness of it. It cannot truly bear witness because it wasn't there to participate in the moment. The final image is powerful not just because of how it looks, but because it is an artifact of a real connection.
Let me be clear, I am not trying to vilify AI. I have been generating images on Midjourney for 3 years to explore its capacity for creatives. Chat-bots can be a powerful assist for project planning/logistics, conceptualization, and programs like Adobe Firefly for post-processing. Assistance, though, will never be replacement. The decisive moment is not a fragile relic from the film era but an enduring human practice: attention sharpened by time, choice made under uncertainty, and empathy tuned to the temperature of a room. The photographer’s work is a human practice of attention, choice, and empathy. Yes, an AI can generate an image, but AI, for all its capabilities, sits outside that loop. It does not wait, risk, negotiate, or care. It simply produces. Portrait photographers actively participate. And that photograph made together becomes a genuine artifact of a life, proving someone was there, that they felt something, and that they were truly seen.