Generate 20 Midjourney prompts based on 5 famous photographers
In this article I will share how to generate prompts based on existing photos from 5 famous photographers. I will select photos from Annie Leibovitz, Cindy Sherman, Dorothea Lange, Richard Avedon, and Ansel Adams. We will use the /describe action to generate 4 prompts from each photo. After I will use the /imagine action to generate the 4 prompts to produce 16 photos from the 4 prompts. I will place my favorite 4 photos from the set. In some cases the AI is definitely not up to standards with master photographers, but there were still some interesting outcomes. I’ve been enjoying pushing the limits of Midjourney to see what the outcome is. I hope you learn something from this article, and enjoy the prompts and imagery!
I found this photo I really liked from Annie Leibovitz, and decided to place it into Midjourney to have it describe and generate 4 prompts inspired by it. The 4 prompts were:
1. a man jumps from an ocean wall towards water, in the style of fantastical street, celebrity image mashups, soggy, navy, shot on 70mm, burne-jones, hasselblad h6d-400c — ar 128:85
2. a man standing on top of boards with surf hitting the waters, in the style of bjarke ingels, sandy skoglund, peter lindbergh, dark blue and indigo, webcam photography, chaotic energy, burne-jones — ar 128:85
3. johnny depp’s ‘beach’ still from the film, in the style of stormy seascapes, breakdance photography, navy and blue, burne-jones, hasselblad 1600f, photorealistic urban scenes, luminosity of water — ar 128:85
4. person walking on the cliffs of a wall, in the style of bjarke ingels, storm thorgerson, hyper-realistic water, playful chaos, ken howard, blue, candid celebrity shots — ar 128:85
It’s odd it didn’t catch it was a Annie Leibotvitz photo, but mentioned other artists and photographers in the prompts. I went ahead and generated the 4 prompts to create 12 new photos, and here are 4 photos I liked from the set of 12.
The next photo I found seems to be a horror-still inspired photo from Cindy Sherman. I placed it into Midjourney to have it describe and generate 4 prompts based on this photo. The 4 prompts were:
1. in this image a young woman is crouching down in a plaid skirt, in the style of cindy sherman, soggy, ethereal horror, androgynous, bill viola, arnold böcklin, shiny eyes — ar 2:1
2. woman with a plaid tutu and white shirt crouching on wood, in the style of film stills, androgynous, barbizon school, shiny eyes, 1990s, soggy, lit kid — ar 2:1
3. as a young woman in plaid skirt with a white shirt, in the style of horror film, expanded portraiture — ar 2:1
4. a boy dressed in a plaid skirt and is laying on the floor, in the style of cindy sherman, wet-on-wet blending, bill viola, lasar segall, 21st century, shiny eyes, suburban gothic — ar 2:1
Here are my favorite 4 based on the 16 photos that came from these 4 prompts. These photos might be my favorite from this exercise. The superficiality from the AI makes the photos feel creepy already. It is also very good at rendering textures like plastic and water.
The next photo I found is a woman sitting on an old car from Dorothea Lange. I placed it into Midjourney to have it describe and generate 4 prompts based on this photo. The 4 prompts were:
1. a woman sitting on top of an old white car with a cowboy hat, in the style of works progress administration (wpa), writer academia, national geographic photo, the san francisco renaissance., uniformly staged images, hasselblad 1600f, wood engraving — ar 15:16
2. ‘lady of the road’, carolina harrison, 1948, in the style of national geographic photo, utilitarian, high quality photo — ar 15:16
3. women sitting in the back of a car near the road, in the style of dorothea lange, technological marvels, will eisner, streamlined design, henry justice ford, kombuchapunk, photo — ar 15:16
4. charlotte bernstein by rich del hombre 1941, in the style of dorothea lange, transportcore, grayson perry, california plein air, travel, 3840x2160, national geographic photo — ar 15:16
Here are my favorite 4 based on the 16 photos that came from these 4 prompts. The color photos still have a vintage feel to them. There is something unique knowing that the modern AI technology is replicating photos from the early 20th century.
The next photo I found is a peculiar photo of John Malkovich. I tend to lean towards liking bizarre photography like the photos from Toiletpaper magazine. I placed the Richard Avedon photo into Midjourney to have it describe and generate 4 prompts. They were:
1. a man dressed in a black and white image with black ants covering his chest, in the style of celebrity portraits, organic sculpting, densely patterned imagery, environmental portraiture — ar 89:66
2. image of a man on his face covered in insects, in the style of norman foster, black and white realism, joseph ducreux, organically inspired body art, scott adams, life-size figures, isolated figures — ar 89:66
3. chris brown with the body covered with ants, in the style of black and white portraits, joseph ducreux, photoillustration, norman foster, made of insects, cottagepunk, realist detail — ar 89:66
4. tonolo agar in a hive, in the style of celebrity portraits, health goth, life-size figures, made of insects, black and white realism, movie still, the new fauves — ar 89:66
Here are my favorite 4 based on the 16 photos that came from these 4 prompts. These came out very interesting, and I like the different textures and dark contrast the AI has used.
5. Ansel Adams
The next photo I found is a rolling landscape with dramatic clouds from Ansel Adams. I placed it into Midjourney to have it describe and generate 4 prompts based on this photo. The 4 prompts were:
1. a black and white photo of mountains under a large storm, in the style of luminous shadowing, bold use of impasto, whistlerian, flickr, richly colored skies, cryengine, sublime wilderness — ar 4:3
2. a black and white image of mountains and clouds, in the style of expressionist imagery, cryengine, whistlerian, dark silver and light orange, national geographic photo, grandeur of scale, sublime wilderness — ar 4:3
3. storm clouds above a mountain range, in the style of laurent baheux, whistlerian, contrasting lights and darks, bob eggleton, captures the essence of nature, charles white, plein air landscapes — ar 4:3
4. a black and white image above a snow covered mountain range, in the style of peter holme iii, dramatic skies, heavy use of palette knives, émile gallé, bold chiaroscuro contrast, donald pass, captures the essence of nature — ar 4:3
Here are my favorite 4 based on the 16 photos that came from these 4 prompts. I have to credit that Ansel Adams photos are better than the AI has produced. There is something magical about knowing it is a real photograph he captured in the moment. Nonetheless, the AI is producing interesting results as well.
Please let me know what you think about these photos. Is there another set of AI inspired photos I should explore? I may publish more articles using Midjourney in the near future. Give me a follow if you are interested to see more. Thanks again for reading!
