A new photography exhibition exploring truth, misinformation and the impact of artificial intelligence on modern life opens in Bath this week.
Truth Decay, organised by PhotoBath, a network of documentary and fine art photographers, features work by artists from Bath, across the UK and Europe.
At a time when AI-generated images and digital manipulation are becoming increasingly common, the exhibition asks whether photography can still be trusted as a record of reality and whether images can continue to provide meaningful insight into the world around us.
The exhibition explores questions including: Can photography still reveal reality and truth? Can photographic images still produce meaningful insight and elicit trust? And how do we reflect our existence in a world of AI fakery when future generations may struggle to distinguish fact from fiction?
The photographers featured in the show have engaged with competing notions of truth, propaganda, ideology, deception, authenticity, censorship, and the reliability of memory and evidence, creating a thought-provoking examination of photography’s place in today’s increasingly contested information landscape.
Carlos Ordonez of PhotoBath, said: “The continuing capacity of photography to elicit trust, when everything appears to be in flux and contested, needs reaffirming.”
The exhibition features everything from conceptual works to documentary photography and intimate portraiture. Here are the stories behind three of the featured images.
De-faced, by Paul Kaspar (featured image)
‘Choisir La France’, Macron’s last presidential campaign poster, in which he tries to cloak himself in the nationalism of the far-right. On a wall in a small village in the Lot Valley, South West France, someone’s rage has torn through this image, leaving just one staring eye and predatory white teeth.
The image was created from a scanned 35mm film negative taken using a 1970s Canon rangefinder camera.
Unite UK, Westminster, 2025 by Daz Smith
Bath photographer Daz Smith captured demonstrators at the entrance to Westminster Underground, where protestors elevate themselves above the crowd, transforming a public thoroughfare into a stage.
Set against the symbolic heart of British democracy, the photograph explores how protest, performance, identity, and competing versions of truth increasingly occupy the same public space.
Elvis, Porthcawl 2021 by Jon Leahy
Bath photographer Jon Leahy reflects on the enduring legacy of Elvis Presley, whose image continues to symbolise youth, rebellion, sexuality and style long after his death.
The photograph examines how cultural memory can preserve an idealised image of a person, even when reality tells a more complex story, creating a nostalgic reflection on one of popular culture’s most enduring icons.
Truth Decay runs at 44AD Art Space on Abbey Street, Bath, from 29th September to 4th October. For more information visit www.photobath.co.uk/