Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
Many people these days use AI to alter their work, I chose to let the alternative wet plate process do the same for me.
Why “Analog AI”? Not clickbait — it stands for Analog Alternative Intelligence. The collodion wet plate process is an alternative analog process, so the name fits on every level.
Why is Boris Eldagsen wearing his suit and tie back to front? No face, no expression — a blank canvas for the process to interact with the subject. But there’s more. “It’s in the back of my head” — and maybe that’s exactly where the art of Boris Eldagsen comes from.
AI hallucinates. It turns things upside down. It sometimes needs to be restrained — much like a straitjacket. Some of the chemicals I used here are literally called restrainers. And looking at Boris Eldagsen’s work, like “Sunflowers Without Decay”, I see that same tension: how much can we still believe? What’s real, what’s not — and even when something is real, it can be labelled AI to question its credibility. Day after day, people feed AI the most personal pieces of themselves — and never look back. Not with fear. Not even with curiosity. Just silence.
And while they do, the machines keep consuming. A single AI query devours roughly 10 times more energy than a simple web search. The data centers never sleep. The servers never rest. And to keep them alive, they are already planning new nuclear power plants, entire reactors, built for the hunger of AI. The lights stay on. The core stays hot. The cost is someone else’s problem. Maybe this portrait is my personal Black Mirror moment.
Only chemicals from the wet plate process were used to alter this image — nothing foreign to the process. Retaining detail while transforming reality. Just like AI does.
Now it’s your turn — how does the final image make you feel? 👇
► support me on Patreon: patreon.mhaustria.com
► Instagram : instagram.com/mhaustria
► get prints: prints.mhaustria.com
► Flipboard magazine flipboard.mhaustria.com
► Need artworks for your wall?: prints.mhaustria.com
► Analog Store: shirts.mhaustria.com
► buy me a tea buymeacoffee.com/mhaustria
► Book portrait session: http://wetplate.art
Music for my videos: epidemicsound.com/referral/k80gpk
In this Video:
Dark Nature - Polar Nights
► Find links (affiliate) to all tools I use here: list.mhaustria.com and underneath
(check also your local stores)
► iPhone 17 pro max
amzn.to/47CVKPy
►Canon EOS R6 mkii
International: amzn.to/4lhHgcz
Germany: amzn.to/4kUmYFs
►K&F Concept Compressed Air Duster
International: amzn.to/45LvF0A
Germany: amzn.to/3ZlZ2CT
►K&F Concept Lens Cleaning Cloth
International: amzn.to/4naRdu7
Germany: amzn.to/3FM0CHw
►Insta 360 Go
International: amzn.to/43x1nxz
Germany: amzn.to/42bhbDY
► K&F Concept Carbon Fiber Tripod
International:amzn.to/4erzJF6
Germany amzn.to/3Xn9rxO
► K&F Concept MS06 Tripod Camera Tripod:
International: amzn.to/3y0bD40
Germany: amzn.to/3W4Gvsd
► K&F Concept Camera Backpack Shoulder Bag:
International: amzn.to/3WoFaO6
Germany: amzn.to/3W3Gbdj
►Manfrotto Master set
amzn.to/3Ia0P6j
►Datacolor Spyder color Checker:
amzn.to/3PMAg8L
►Datacolor Spyder x pro
amzn.to/3WDg6jX
►Spyder cube
amzn.to/3WgI6df
►Datacolor Spyder x pro kit
amzn.to/3PK34i7
►JOBY GripTight GorillaPod - may favourite tripod with magsafe
International: amzn.to/3yjYz5i
Germany: amzn.to/3GHtfAx
For individual wet plate workshops (starting with one person) please contact me here:
pws.mhaustria.com
If you want to buy the plates or a limited fine art print:
http://www.markus-hofstaetter.at/pages/storeplates/
Find more of my Work on my website:
mhaustria.com
Many people these days use AI to alter their work, I chose to let the alternative wet plate process do the same for me.
Why “Analog AI”? Not clickbait — it stands for Analog Alternative Intelligence. The collodion wet plate process is an alternative analog process, so the name fits on every level.
Why is Boris Eldagsen wearing his suit and tie back to front? No face, no expression — a blank canvas for the process to interact with the subject. But there’s more. “It’s in the back of my head” — and maybe that’s exactly where the art of Boris Eldagsen comes from.
AI hallucinates. It turns things upside down. It sometimes needs to be restrained — much like a straitjacket. Some of the chemicals I used here are literally called restrainers. And looking at Boris Eldagsen’s work, like “Sunflowers Without Decay”, I see that same tension: how much can we still believe? What’s real, what’s not — and even when something is real, it can be labelled AI to question its credibility. Day after day, people feed AI the most personal pieces of themselves — and never look back. Not with fear. Not even with curiosity. Just silence.
And while they do, the machines keep consuming. A single AI query devours roughly 10 times more energy than a simple web search. The data centers never sleep. The servers never rest. And to keep them alive, they are already planning new nuclear power plants, entire reactors, built for the hunger of AI. The lights stay on. The core stays hot. The cost is someone else’s problem. Maybe this portrait is my personal Black Mirror moment.
Only chemicals from the wet plate process were used to alter this image — nothing foreign to the process. Retaining detail while transforming reality. Just like AI does.
Now it’s your turn — how does the final image make you feel? 👇
► support me on Patreon: patreon.mhaustria.com
► Instagram : instagram.com/mhaustria
► get prints: prints.mhaustria.com
► Flipboard magazine flipboard.mhaustria.com
► Need artworks for your wall?: prints.mhaustria.com
► Analog Store: shirts.mhaustria.com
► buy me a tea buymeacoffee.com/mhaustria
► Book portrait session: http://wetplate.art
Music for my videos: epidemicsound.com/referral/k80gpk
In this Video:
Dark Nature - Polar Nights
► Find links (affiliate) to all tools I use here: list.mhaustria.com and underneath
(check also your local stores)
► iPhone 17 pro max
amzn.to/47CVKPy
►Canon EOS R6 mkii
International: amzn.to/4lhHgcz
Germany: amzn.to/4kUmYFs
►K&F Concept Compressed Air Duster
International: amzn.to/45LvF0A
Germany: amzn.to/3ZlZ2CT
►K&F Concept Lens Cleaning Cloth
International: amzn.to/4naRdu7
Germany: amzn.to/3FM0CHw
►Insta 360 Go
International: amzn.to/43x1nxz
Germany: amzn.to/42bhbDY
► K&F Concept Carbon Fiber Tripod
International:amzn.to/4erzJF6
Germany amzn.to/3Xn9rxO
► K&F Concept MS06 Tripod Camera Tripod:
International: amzn.to/3y0bD40
Germany: amzn.to/3W4Gvsd
► K&F Concept Camera Backpack Shoulder Bag:
International: amzn.to/3WoFaO6
Germany: amzn.to/3W3Gbdj
►Manfrotto Master set
amzn.to/3Ia0P6j
►Datacolor Spyder color Checker:
amzn.to/3PMAg8L
►Datacolor Spyder x pro
amzn.to/3WDg6jX
►Spyder cube
amzn.to/3WgI6df
►Datacolor Spyder x pro kit
amzn.to/3PK34i7
►JOBY GripTight GorillaPod - may favourite tripod with magsafe
International: amzn.to/3yjYz5i
Germany: amzn.to/3GHtfAx
For individual wet plate workshops (starting with one person) please contact me here:
pws.mhaustria.com
If you want to buy the plates or a limited fine art print:
http://www.markus-hofstaetter.at/pages/storeplates/
Find more of my Work on my website:
mhaustria.com
