IMAGE GENERATION AS A FORM OF ETHNOGRAPHY
HOW AI ART CAN MAKE YOU A BETTER RESEARCHER
ETHNOGRAPHY
PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE-WATCHNING
Ethnography is the systematic study of people and cultures through detailed observation
+EXAMPLE
EXERCISE
Open ChatGPT (or your bot of choice) and start a new prompt with "a photorealistic image." Then describe the scene in this room, right now. What exactly do you see? Describe everything. Get detailed and expressive. What is the light like? What are the people near you and in front of you wearing? Notice anything and everything, and write it out as a stream of consciousness in your prompt. Longer the better. You have 5 minutes. When the timer goes off, download your image and post it to this Padlet: https://padlet.com/scgeier1/ethnography
LEARN THE NAMES OF THINGS
EXAMPLE
Learn the names of things so you can be specific in your prompts. Don't ask for a "tree," ask for a "black poplar." Use Google Images or Lens to learn the names.
For example, if you want this "style" of tree in your design, it helps to know that it's an acacia.
LEARN THE NAMES OF THINGS
THE 'CORMAC MCCARTHY' METHOD
If you've ever read a Cormac McCarthy novel, you know how he uses very specific (and often arcane) names of things to describe a scene. It's a slog, but it creates incredibly vivid imagery.
+EXAMPLE
THANK YOU!
During this interval, slightly over two minutes, the handler of the wounded cock has been working frantically over it, like a trainer patching a mauled boxer between rounds, to get it in shape for a last, desperate try for victory. He blows in its mouth, putting the whole chicken head in his own mouth and sucking and blowing, fluffs it, stuffs its wounds with various sorts of medicines, and generally tries anything he can think of to arouse the last ounce of spirit which may be hidden somewhere within it. By the time he is forced to put it back down he is usually drenched in chicken blood, but, as in prize fighting, a good handler is worth his weight in gold.
EXAMPLE
FROM 'ALL THE PRETTY HORSES'
A photorealistic image of a room with mud walls and a small painted pine table. The mud walls are hung with old calendars, magazine pictures, and a framed tin retablo of the Virgin Mary. Under the retablo is a board supported by two wedges driven into the wall. On the board is a small green glass with a blackened candlestub in it. On the table are two plates with beans and tortillas. Next to one of the plates is a clay pot full of goatmeat chile and a tin cup full of coffee. The room is lit by oil light.
EXAMPLE
OF THICK DESCRIPTION
Create a photorealistic image of a simple two-story house of the kind found in East Austin, TX. Built in the 1940s, with stucco walls, casement windows, a simple shingled roof and a modest balcony on the second floor, facing the street. The scene is at night, dimly lit. The view is from the back of the house. The back of the hosue also has a balcony, creating a covered patio on the ground floor. The ground is gravely, with patchy grass. An old round charcoal grill sits on the patio. Soft warm light from the windows.
Google StreetView of the actual house, circa 2009
AI-generated, based on a description of my dream
IMAGE GENERATION AS A FORM OF ETHNOGRAPHY
Dick Onzin
Created on October 16, 2025
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Transcript
IMAGE GENERATION AS A FORM OF ETHNOGRAPHY
HOW AI ART CAN MAKE YOU A BETTER RESEARCHER
ETHNOGRAPHY
PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE-WATCHNING
Ethnography is the systematic study of people and cultures through detailed observation
+EXAMPLE
EXERCISE
Open ChatGPT (or your bot of choice) and start a new prompt with "a photorealistic image." Then describe the scene in this room, right now. What exactly do you see? Describe everything. Get detailed and expressive. What is the light like? What are the people near you and in front of you wearing? Notice anything and everything, and write it out as a stream of consciousness in your prompt. Longer the better. You have 5 minutes. When the timer goes off, download your image and post it to this Padlet: https://padlet.com/scgeier1/ethnography
LEARN THE NAMES OF THINGS
EXAMPLE
Learn the names of things so you can be specific in your prompts. Don't ask for a "tree," ask for a "black poplar." Use Google Images or Lens to learn the names.
For example, if you want this "style" of tree in your design, it helps to know that it's an acacia.
LEARN THE NAMES OF THINGS
THE 'CORMAC MCCARTHY' METHOD
If you've ever read a Cormac McCarthy novel, you know how he uses very specific (and often arcane) names of things to describe a scene. It's a slog, but it creates incredibly vivid imagery.
+EXAMPLE
THANK YOU!
During this interval, slightly over two minutes, the handler of the wounded cock has been working frantically over it, like a trainer patching a mauled boxer between rounds, to get it in shape for a last, desperate try for victory. He blows in its mouth, putting the whole chicken head in his own mouth and sucking and blowing, fluffs it, stuffs its wounds with various sorts of medicines, and generally tries anything he can think of to arouse the last ounce of spirit which may be hidden somewhere within it. By the time he is forced to put it back down he is usually drenched in chicken blood, but, as in prize fighting, a good handler is worth his weight in gold.
EXAMPLE
FROM 'ALL THE PRETTY HORSES'
A photorealistic image of a room with mud walls and a small painted pine table. The mud walls are hung with old calendars, magazine pictures, and a framed tin retablo of the Virgin Mary. Under the retablo is a board supported by two wedges driven into the wall. On the board is a small green glass with a blackened candlestub in it. On the table are two plates with beans and tortillas. Next to one of the plates is a clay pot full of goatmeat chile and a tin cup full of coffee. The room is lit by oil light.
EXAMPLE
OF THICK DESCRIPTION
Create a photorealistic image of a simple two-story house of the kind found in East Austin, TX. Built in the 1940s, with stucco walls, casement windows, a simple shingled roof and a modest balcony on the second floor, facing the street. The scene is at night, dimly lit. The view is from the back of the house. The back of the hosue also has a balcony, creating a covered patio on the ground floor. The ground is gravely, with patchy grass. An old round charcoal grill sits on the patio. Soft warm light from the windows.
Google StreetView of the actual house, circa 2009
AI-generated, based on a description of my dream