What is more common than a portrait? The full frontal view links the observer to the individuals in the image, a typical human trait. These images become part of the life story, a memory, a sign that we are alive. The photos of this project are from Costica Acsinte, a Romanian photographer of the middle of the last century. The passing of the years has damaged numerous of these glass plates. However, some of them are now virtual abstractions or damaged portraits. The peeling and the disappearance of the emulsion, the shrinking, and the fragmentation create fascinating and beautiful chaos. In the present series, damaged portraits shot in the first half of the XX century were selected. No information is given concerning the identity. This is the reason for all the titles of the images and project – no name. An “artificial intelligence” application that generates heat maps was used to verify if it can recognize these faces and eyes when visible. We can compare artificial intelligence in image analysis and the comparison with our visual perception. This intelligent software simulates the visual scan of human eyes. Intense and hot colours that this artificial intelligence marks as the more conspicuous, marking the black and white images with colour. However, we verify that sometimes, artificial intelligence fails… This project shows why the human mind and brain will prevail in the future.

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About
Born in 1962 in Guimaraes, Portugal. Living in Porto, Portugal. Medical doctor and professor of anatomy in the Faculty of Medicine of Porto, Portugal. Interested in the relation between photography and neuroscience. Created recently a discipline called Scientific and Clinical Photography for medical students and medical and health professionals. Ended the Masters in Artistic Photography (IPCI, Porto) in 2020.