Latest news with #CharlesBrooks
Sydney Morning Herald
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
These images have one thing in common. Can you guess what it is?
When people first encounter the art of Charles Brooks, they're invariably impressed – if a little perplexed. Some of his works recall the grand pillars of ancient Roman architecture, or volcanic caves forged by fiery explosions. Others resemble the types of precious metals one expects to find inside a pirate's treasure chest, or old-fashioned rooms with peculiar Alice in Wonderland -style dimensions. Many admirers assume these images were created on a computer, perhaps with the aid of artificial intelligence. Some might mistake them for photorealist illustrations. Few realise they are actually photographs – and they all have one thing in common. Brooks, 47, is a Melbourne-based photographer who specialises in capturing the interiors of musical instruments. It's a highly technical endeavour that involves a laparoscope – a thin, tube-like camera used in keyhole surgery – in addition to multiple light sources, sophisticated editing software, infrared thermometers and sacks of rice. Brooks is the only person in this world who uses this technique, which he developed himself. 'It started during the COVID lockdowns,' he explains when I visit him at his Hawthorn apartment to observe him at work. 'All these musicians started losing jobs, so they decided to put their instruments into the repair shop. I took the opportunity to go in with my probe lenses and play around, but I never thought it would become a whole thing.' When Brooks posted an early photo on Reddit, revealing the interior of a friend's 245-year-old cello, he expected to sell a handful of prints. But over the past few years, his extraordinary images have been reproduced an estimated 20 million times in newspapers and magazines across the world. What began as a niche pursuit is now his full-time occupation. In partnership with the Australian World Orchestra, which will perform Mahler's 4th and 5th symphonies in Melbourne and Sydney in September, Brooks is photographing two instruments on this crisp winter's morning: a cello, circa mid-1700s, and a viola made in the 1910s. AWO cellist Molly Kadarauch looks suitably nervous as she hands over her instrument, which was crafted by Pietro Antonio Testore, a member of Milan's highly regarded Testore family. 'I've had it since 1989,' she says. 'There are a couple of cracks, which devalued it, so it's been under extensive repair.' Kadarauch breathes a sigh of relief when she learns that Brooks is a former professional musician himself, having held principal cello positions in China, Chile and Brazil. He passes her cello to Bendigo-born violin maker Rainer Beilharz, who sets about cleaning its interior by pouring dry rice through the F-holes on either side of its bridge – so named because they resemble a cursive F – before gently shaking it and tipping the grains back out. 'Stradivarius himself would have done this,' Beilharz explains. 'It's a time-honoured technique, which is why no one messes with it.' Brooks places the cello on a felt-covered table, which is surrounded by three flash bulbs. He hands Kadarauch the thermometer gun, inserts his laparoscope – which he has modified to capture high-resolution images – and begins shooting. 'These are intensely powerful lights, so they put out a lot of heat,' he says as he instructs Kadarauch to alert him if the temperature nears 30 degrees. 'I have to wait eight to 10 seconds between each photograph so I don't boil the varnish.' It's a painstaking process, requiring up to 300 individual photographs. Afterwards, he will stitch them together on his computer, allowing every detail to remain in sharp focus. 'I use all kinds of software to blend together the bits that are in focus, which is why parts of the image are angled,' he says. 'It'll probably take me three hours just to do the photos, then another week to put them together.' As Australian World Orchestra violist Lisa Grosman awaits her turn, Brooks mentions that he recently photographed a 1717 Stradivarius, which is on loan to her AWO colleague, Daniel Dodds. 'It's a $20 million violin, so you have to take every possible precaution,' he says, explaining how Beilharz carefully dismantled the end pin, bridge, strings and tailpiece in preparation for the shoot. 'These instruments are held together by tension instead of glue, because glue would dampen the vibrations. When I remove that tension, there's a chance the sound post – the dowel in the centre that transfers vibrations, which is often called the 'soul' of a violin – could just tip over. That's why I need a luthier [a maker of string instruments] to get everything precisely back in place, because even if you move something by a millimetre, it really changes the sound. 'Thankfully, I've never actually had one fall over.' Brooks, who hails from New Zealand, began photographing the night sky about 10 years ago. 'Astrophotographers often want to capture the whole Milky Way, but it's hard to get in a single shot because it arches from one horizon to the other,' he says. 'You have to move the lens this way and that, over and over. Now, I use those techniques when I'm photographing instruments. In both cases, you're trying to uncover hidden spaces and show details that you wouldn't normally see.' Over the years, Brooks has documented the interiors of grand pianos, flutes, guitars, pipe organs, saxophones, clarinets, French horns and even a didgeridoo. 'I was expecting to see a wooden instrument that had been chiselled out by hand,' he says. 'But of course, it's an incredible organic structure because it's deliberately hollowed out by termites, which is why it looks like a cave.' Each time he peers inside an instrument, he unlocks its secrets. 'You'll find repairs and tool marks and even the writing of Stradivarius himself,' he says. 'You might discover thin wooden veneers that are a preventative measure against cracking, or you'll see scratches from cleaning or the signatures of people who've repaired a cello or a viola. 'When you look inside an instrument, you're looking at its history.' The Australian World Orchestra performs Mahler 4 & 5 on September 3 in Melbourne and September 4 in Sydney. Tickets: WHY THE AUSTRALIAN WORLD ORCHESTRA IS 'THE SUPER BOWL OF CLASSICAL MUSIC' In 2010, Alexander Briger founded the Australian World Orchestra with a simple aim: to allow homegrown musicians who currently play in the world's best orchestras – from the Berlin Philharmonic to the London Symphony – to perform together for one week each year. 'It's a bit like seeing the Rolling Stones live, or the best two tennis players in the Wimbledon final,' says Briger, who serves as the AWO's chief conductor and artistic director. 'Most orchestras are like well-oiled machines because the musicians play together every day, but we run on excitement and tension and electricity. We're not the Berlin Philharmonic; we have a completely different energy.' The AWO's musicians agree: previous members have described it as 'having a school camp vibe in the best possible way', 'like the Australian Youth Orchestra, but with wrinkles' and 'the Super Bowl of classical music'. On September 3, the AWO will perform Gustav Mahler's 4th and 5th symphonies at Hamer Hall. This will be the first time these works have been performed in a single evening in the Southern Hemisphere – and the AWO will do it all again the following night at the Sydney Opera House. All up, that's four hours of Mahler in just 48 hours. This is no mean feat, given these symphonies have been described as 'capturing almost the full range of human emotions between them'.
The Age
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
These images have one thing in common. Can you guess what it is?
When people first encounter the art of Charles Brooks, they're invariably impressed – if a little perplexed. Some of his works recall the grand pillars of ancient Roman architecture, or volcanic caves forged by fiery explosions. Others resemble the types of precious metals one expects to find inside a pirate's treasure chest, or old-fashioned rooms with peculiar Alice in Wonderland -style dimensions. Many admirers assume these images were created on a computer, perhaps with the aid of artificial intelligence. Some might mistake them for photorealist illustrations. Few realise they are actually photographs – and they all have one thing in common. Brooks, 47, is a Melbourne-based photographer who specialises in capturing the interiors of musical instruments. It's a highly technical endeavour that involves a laparoscope – a thin, tube-like camera used in keyhole surgery – in addition to multiple light sources, sophisticated editing software, infrared thermometers and sacks of rice. Brooks is the only person in this world who uses this technique, which he developed himself. 'It started during the COVID lockdowns,' he explains when I visit him at his Hawthorn apartment to observe him at work. 'All these musicians started losing jobs, so they decided to put their instruments into the repair shop. I took the opportunity to go in with my probe lenses and play around, but I never thought it would become a whole thing.' When Brooks posted an early photo on Reddit, revealing the interior of a friend's 245-year-old cello, he expected to sell a handful of prints. But over the past few years, his extraordinary images have been reproduced an estimated 20 million times in newspapers and magazines across the world. What began as a niche pursuit is now his full-time occupation. In partnership with the Australian World Orchestra, which will perform Mahler's 4th and 5th symphonies in Melbourne and Sydney in September, Brooks is photographing two instruments on this crisp winter's morning: a cello, circa mid-1700s, and a viola made in the 1910s. AWO cellist Molly Kadarauch looks suitably nervous as she hands over her instrument, which was crafted by Pietro Antonio Testore, a member of Milan's highly regarded Testore family. 'I've had it since 1989,' she says. 'There are a couple of cracks, which devalued it, so it's been under extensive repair.' Kadarauch breathes a sigh of relief when she learns that Brooks is a former professional musician himself, having held principal cello positions in China, Chile and Brazil. He passes her cello to Bendigo-born violin maker Rainer Beilharz, who sets about cleaning its interior by pouring dry rice through the F-holes on either side of its bridge – so named because they resemble a cursive F – before gently shaking it and tipping the grains back out. 'Stradivarius himself would have done this,' Beilharz explains. 'It's a time-honoured technique, which is why no one messes with it.' Brooks places the cello on a felt-covered table, which is surrounded by three flash bulbs. He hands Kadarauch the thermometer gun, inserts his laparoscope – which he has modified to capture high-resolution images – and begins shooting. 'These are intensely powerful lights, so they put out a lot of heat,' he says as he instructs Kadarauch to alert him if the temperature nears 30 degrees. 'I have to wait eight to 10 seconds between each photograph so I don't boil the varnish.' It's a painstaking process, requiring up to 300 individual photographs. Afterwards, he will stitch them together on his computer, allowing every detail to remain in sharp focus. 'I use all kinds of software to blend together the bits that are in focus, which is why parts of the image are angled,' he says. 'It'll probably take me three hours just to do the photos, then another week to put them together.' As Australian World Orchestra violist Lisa Grosman awaits her turn, Brooks mentions that he recently photographed a 1717 Stradivarius, which is on loan to her AWO colleague, Daniel Dodds. 'It's a $20 million violin, so you have to take every possible precaution,' he says, explaining how Beilharz carefully dismantled the end pin, bridge, strings and tailpiece in preparation for the shoot. 'These instruments are held together by tension instead of glue, because glue would dampen the vibrations. When I remove that tension, there's a chance the sound post – the dowel in the centre that transfers vibrations, which is often called the 'soul' of a violin – could just tip over. That's why I need a luthier [a maker of string instruments] to get everything precisely back in place, because even if you move something by a millimetre, it really changes the sound. 'Thankfully, I've never actually had one fall over.' Brooks, who hails from New Zealand, began photographing the night sky about 10 years ago. 'Astrophotographers often want to capture the whole Milky Way, but it's hard to get in a single shot because it arches from one horizon to the other,' he says. 'You have to move the lens this way and that, over and over. Now, I use those techniques when I'm photographing instruments. In both cases, you're trying to uncover hidden spaces and show details that you wouldn't normally see.' Over the years, Brooks has documented the interiors of grand pianos, flutes, guitars, pipe organs, saxophones, clarinets, French horns and even a didgeridoo. 'I was expecting to see a wooden instrument that had been chiselled out by hand,' he says. 'But of course, it's an incredible organic structure because it's deliberately hollowed out by termites, which is why it looks like a cave.' Each time he peers inside an instrument, he unlocks its secrets. 'You'll find repairs and tool marks and even the writing of Stradivarius himself,' he says. 'You might discover thin wooden veneers that are a preventative measure against cracking, or you'll see scratches from cleaning or the signatures of people who've repaired a cello or a viola. 'When you look inside an instrument, you're looking at its history.' The Australian World Orchestra performs Mahler 4 & 5 on September 3 in Melbourne and September 4 in Sydney. Tickets: WHY THE AUSTRALIAN WORLD ORCHESTRA IS 'THE SUPER BOWL OF CLASSICAL MUSIC' In 2010, Alexander Briger founded the Australian World Orchestra with a simple aim: to allow homegrown musicians who currently play in the world's best orchestras – from the Berlin Philharmonic to the London Symphony – to perform together for one week each year. 'It's a bit like seeing the Rolling Stones live, or the best two tennis players in the Wimbledon final,' says Briger, who serves as the AWO's chief conductor and artistic director. 'Most orchestras are like well-oiled machines because the musicians play together every day, but we run on excitement and tension and electricity. We're not the Berlin Philharmonic; we have a completely different energy.' The AWO's musicians agree: previous members have described it as 'having a school camp vibe in the best possible way', 'like the Australian Youth Orchestra, but with wrinkles' and 'the Super Bowl of classical music'. On September 3, the AWO will perform Gustav Mahler's 4th and 5th symphonies at Hamer Hall. This will be the first time these works have been performed in a single evening in the Southern Hemisphere – and the AWO will do it all again the following night at the Sydney Opera House. All up, that's four hours of Mahler in just 48 hours. This is no mean feat, given these symphonies have been described as 'capturing almost the full range of human emotions between them'.
Daily Mail
05-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Aussie photographer Charles Brooks slams Elon Musk over billionaire's wild AI claim
An Aussie artist has lashed out after Elon Musk reshared artificially modified versions of his photos to 'promote' his chatbot. Accomplished artist and musician Charles Brooks achieved international recognition in 2022 for his 'Architecture in Music' photographic series, capturing the interiors of musical instruments. This week, he was shocked to learn from a friend that his work had been altered by a third party using artificial intelligence (AI) and shared by Musk on X – formerly known as Twitter. Above his photos, edited to include little men inside his instruments, was Musk's invitation for users to 'Generate images with Grok'. Mr Brooks insisted '98 per cent' of the images were actually generated by him. 'I went and did some digging, and eventually I found this thing he'd shared from a couple of days ago,' he told Daily Mail Australia. Mr Brooks conceded that Musk was not 'quite' passing his photos off as Grok's work, but believes he was operating in a 'grey area'. 'The thing that annoys me is that my photos are being kind of used, and my name's not being attached to them,' he said. Musk reshared three of Mr Brook's images which had been altered with AI, imploring X users to generate images with Grok 'And the way that they're being presented makes it look like they're AI photos.' AI software can now produce essays, creative fictions, photos, videos and audio to boot. But the models have been 'trained' repetitively at first using real images, artworks, videos and soundbites. The ethics of AI training and artistic intellectual property have been debated since the engines were first unveiled to the public. Mr Brooks insists there was no mistaking the images were his. 'For me, the main thing is, these are real photographs of very specific instruments,' he explained. 'You know, there's a double bass in there that's photographed. And I know exactly what bass that is. That's a English Charles Therese Double Bass from 1860 that my friend plays in the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Beautiful bass. 'That's my photo of inside that specific instrument. And that should never be claimed as AI.' Mr Brooks insisted he's not anti-AI and uses it for an array of tasks including managing his website and correcting writing. He hopes the saga serves as a warning to artists – as the creative industries are forced to coexist with what could represent a disrupting force. 'If there's anything that I would wish out of this it would be that, you know, there's a way for works or images to always be tracked back to the artist when they're shared,' he said. 'AI is going to see this stuff, it's going to learn. So are people, for that matter, other people can look at my work and maybe figure out how I've done it and do something similar. Great, good on them. 'But my creations should be able to be tracked back to me easily and it's frustrating that it's so simple for people to lift them and share them, and you lose that chain back to the original artist.' Mr Brooks was astonished about how little people seemed to care to credit real-world artists, whose time and effort became the foundation of every subsequent AI creation. 'I think with all of this new technology, if we can trace every bitcoin transaction on Earth, we should be able to trace a photo,' he said. Many online were left shocked after Mr Brooks detailed the incident online. 'Elon didn't mention my name at all, Eric did put my name in but only as a comment which I find a bit disingenuous,' Mr Brooks claimed in a video posted on Reddit. 'I'm not terribly against people modifying the images as long as it's not for a commercial reason, but if you're going to do that, please credit me.' The artist took his grievances to the platform after his X account was suspended. His account has since been reinstated. Commenters unleashed against the technology billionaire. 'So sorry you have to do go through this crap with him. I've completely stopped using twitter, will never call it X,' one wrote. Another added: 'I'm sorry Elon Musk is such a piece of sh*t. Your photography is really beautiful,' another added. A third wrote: 'This is a salesman posting fake results about his product. So what does that say of the product?' another said. Many viewers wondered if Mr Brooks had a legal case against Musk. 'I don't think (Mr Brooks) has a case against the 'original' Twitter poster, but (Musk) is using stolen art to advertise a tool that directly benefits him. Not a lawyer but that looks like a slam-dunk of a case,' one alleged. Others, however, did not believe Mr Brooks' case was strong enough. Mr Brooks told Daily Mail Australia it was unlikely he would pursue that avenue. Musk's Grok engine has been the subject of controversy in recent weeks as allegations of censorship plagued the platform. Grok is a conversational AI developed by xAI, founded by Musk. The engine can access contemporary information over the web and on its native platform, X. Its use has been predicated on its ability to answer questions typically avoided by other platforms, and can be accessed at varying degrees of utility through free and paid accounts. However, in recent weeks the chatbot suffered a 'programming error' which made it sceptical of Holocaust figures and repeatedly made claims about a 'white genocide' in South Africa. In May, researchers revealed AI models had begun disobeying human instruction. ChatGPT's latest AI model refused to switch itself off, they claimed. Experts said they gave the AI system a clear command but the o3 model, developed by OpenAI and described as the 'smartest and most capable to date', tampered with its computer code to avoid an automatic shutdown.
