Mohammad Alnobani: On reducing bias in imagery
In this episode, we talk with Mohammad Alnobani about reducing bias in imagery. He discusses his experiences founding an Arab stock imagery website, and how his role has allowed him to better understand photographers’ concerns. He also explores AI tools like image generation, describing how he has tried to maintain his own ethics through the use of these tools.
What does photography ethics mean to Mohammad?
“I would answer with two angles towards this. Basically the ownership of the image, unfortunately, not only in our region, but I found out that in many, many regions, ownership of images is taken very lightly. Like, oh if I take this photo out of Google and use it as a social media post on my personal page, it doesn’t harm anybody because I’m not really benefitting out of it. But, no, you are, and you did take something away from somebody who owns this photo at a certain point. And, on the other end, I would say with the photographer’s point of view, when you take a photo, what’s ethical, what’s not when you take a photo of a model and you upload it somewhere. Just make sure that you treat it rightly, and this is what we’ve been pushing our photographers to do. In certain situations it’s quite impossible to carry your model release around and ask people to sign it and explain why they’re signing it, but at least record a view with that person–just have some sort of content that verifies that person was okay with you taking their photo. So, this is a very broad topic, but it has a lot of angles and now with AI, there’s way more details to get into.” (40:35)
Mohammad Alnobani is an entrepreneur and co-founder of The Middle Frame, a pioneering venture focused on revolutionizing Arab stock imagery and spearheading the development of Generative AI for images in the MENA region. Mohammad has cultivated a thriving community of over 2000 photographers spanning the entire MENA region. These photographers bring diverse perspectives and narratives to the forefront of visual storytelling, enriching the cultural landscape through their lens.
Prior to The Middle Frame, Mohammad honed his skills and expertise in advertising. Eager to explore new horizons, he embarked on the entrepreneurial path, venturing into agency ownership in his native Palestine.
For Mohammad, The Middle Frame represents a fusion of his creative inclinations and cultural heritage—a platform dedicated to sharing authentic stories and showcasing the inherent beauty of Arab culture through compelling visuals.
You can learn more about The Middle Frame at https://themiddleframe.com