This text was translated by AI. Original French source: Fench Article.

Artificial Intelligence

After brushing up against what artificial intelligence could bring me, I came to the conclusion that I had to establish clear rules of use in order to stay aligned with my values. Although I've always appreciated and been curious about new technologies, I have to say this is truly the first time I've had to take a more drastic stance on the use of one of them. Many people consider AI a tool. I don't believe that's the case. Why? Because a tool is there to help you in creating or accomplishing a project. AI produces final results where your talent, your skill or your knowledge were in no way called upon. Just a prompt, a directive, and there you go — Aunt Ginette can afford to create cinematic-quality images or videos without having any minimal knowledge of everything it would take an expert to model in 3D, texture, light a scene, animate, edit the video, create a soundtrack, etc.

Who is Philip Rivard?

It started with a wrong turn.

In 1999, I walked into a vocational training center to check out the automotive mechanics program. But on my way through, I passed a room full of drafting tables and computers and something clicked. I signed up that day for technical drawing, almost on instinct.

It was only afterward that I realized my father had worked in the same field. That as a kid, I used to draw on the back of the large-format blueprints he'd bring home from work. Some things find you before you find them.

After a long day, there are two ways to decompress. The first is to crash on the couch. The second is to pick up your guitar. I chose the second. Release the Pressure is a simple series. No script, no rehearsal, no perfectionism. I sit down, hit record, and let out whatever comes. Layer by layer, in real time — guitar, bass, drums — all built live in a single take. That evening, I Will Survive imposed itself. Maybe because I had the solo down

The Lamplighter

There are books you read. And there are books that read you.

The Little Prince belongs to the second category. I've lost count of how many times I've read it. It always comes back. As if each reading revealed something the previous one hadn't quite reached.

Although the image isn't as spectacular in terms of resolution as what we can admire these days, this photo taken in 2010 is one that I am the most proud of. On top of having captured the details of this fly so close up, and with modest equipment (a Panasonic DMC-FZ8 and a DCR-250 macro lens), I am especially proud of the orange background created by the petal of a lily.

I really enjoyed that period of my life when I spent my lunch hours hunting for little critters. The world of insects is fascinating, and you really come to realize that even though we don't always hold them close to our hearts, they are complex creatures, essential to our own survival.