{"id":4865,"date":"2026-07-13T08:30:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T03:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=4865"},"modified":"2026-07-13T08:30:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T03:30:36","slug":"a-surveillance-artist-shows-how-instagram-magic-is-made","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=4865","title":{"rendered":"A surveillance artist shows how Instagram magic is made"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-adroot=\"true\">\n<p>When traveler Daniele Brito posed in front of the Temple Bar in Dublin, Ireland in late August, she likely didn\u2019t realize the camera was watching her.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, there was the one pointed at her, capturing a photograph that would later be shared to Brito\u2019s more than 2,700 followers on Instagram. But there was at least one other one observing her: a surveillance camera stationed on the corner opposite the bar.<\/p>\n<p>Brito\u2019s photo \u2014 and the surveillance video of her \u2014 became part of Belgian artist Dries Depoorter\u2019s project <a href=\"https:\/\/driesdepoorter.be\/thefollower\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"T3D\"><em>The Follower<\/em><\/a>, which he unveiled on social media yesterday. Depoorter programmed an artificial intelligence system that uses open-access video footage from cameras stationed around the world in order to spot people. It then crosschecks those individuals with Instagram photographs posted from locations those cameras cover, seeing if it can find a match.<\/p>\n<p>Depoorter, 31, gained attention last year for his project <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inputmag.com\/tech\/this-ai-bot-proves-politicians-are-addicted-to-their-phones-too\" class=\"T3D\"><em>The Flemish Scrollers<\/em><\/a>, which used AI to tag Belgian politicians distractedly scrolling on their phones during livestreamed meetings. Depoorter declines to share the usernames of any of those caught up in his latest project, though it is simple enough to find them through reverse-engineering. (That\u2019s how <em>Input<\/em> figured out Brito\u2019s identity; she did not respond to a request for comment.)<\/p>\n<p>Depoorter, however, will reveal that <em>The Follower<\/em> came about out of boredom as he remotely observed the habits of an apparent influencer. \u201cI\u2019ve been doing projects with open cameras for years,\u201d Depoorter says. \u201cOne day, I was watching one camera, and there was a person taking photos for like half an hour, really professionally. That was the starting point.\u201d Depoorter manually searched for the resultant photos on Instagram using the platform\u2019s location-tagging functionality, but couldn\u2019t find them.<\/p>\n<p>So he decided to code a tool that pulls in surveillance camera footage that is close to the ground \u2014 the better to identify people more accurately \u2014 and at tourist sites where people are likely to take photographs. Most of the software he uses is off-the-shelf. In all, Depoorter analyzed four weeks\u2019 worth of photos, coming up with a number of hits.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sWr iGR CEt\">\n<figure class=\"Qf5 E1M\">\n<p><figcaption class=\"TrI\"><cite class=\"hW6\">Dries Depoorter\/The Follower<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Depoorter ducks discussion of what goals he hoped to achieve. \u201cI know which questions it raises, this kind of project,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I don\u2019t answer the question itself. I don\u2019t want to put a lesson into the world. I just want to show the dangers of new technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 data-md-text-align=\"center\">\u2018The digital gaze\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>For Mariann Hardey at England\u2019s Durham University, who has previously studied surveillance\u2019s pervasiveness, the project is an indication of how deeply being watched is entrenched in our lives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe digital gaze permeates network architecture and social and cultural structures,\u201d she says in an emailed response. \u201c<em>The Follower <\/em>provides fascinating insight into creativity that is fundamentally dependent on smartphone technology and exposes the frivolity of digital culture in how influencers experiment with posed images and techniques within the social landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Francesca Sobande, senior lecturer at Cardiff University\u2019s School of Journalism, Media, and Culture in Wales, is more circumspect about the impact of the project. \u201cArt does many great things, including stir generative discussions and debate about life as we know it,\u201d she tells <em>Input<\/em>. \u201cHowever, art projects can also have harmful effects. Such harms should not be brushed aside in discussions about art and the technology that is sometimes central to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote data-md-text-align=\"center\" class=\"rs0 Dhu\"><p>\u201cFor me, it\u2019s <strong>more<\/strong> about the <strong>technology<\/strong> and not about the <strong>people<\/strong> I used.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Sobande highlights that extensive research has shown how AI and open cameras are used as \u201cpart of the <a href=\"https:\/\/theface.com\/society\/black-lives-matter-facial-recognition-digital-surveillance-george-floyd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"T3D\">structural surveillance of people<\/a>, particularly individuals impacted by racism, xenophobia, and other intersecting forms of oppression. There is a history of AI and open cameras playing a core part in the violent policing of protests and dissent, and this history cannot be ignored in the name of art.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor these reasons,\u201d Sobande continues, \u201cany project that involves AI and open cameras is a project that may, unfortunately, reinforce a societal state of surveillance that can put people\u2019s lives at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Depoorter doesn\u2019t seem to have such concerns. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s more about the technology and not about the people I used,\u201d he says. \u201cI used a lot of people, so there\u2019s no focus on one person.\u201d When <em>Input<\/em> points out that he showed those peoples\u2019 unblurred faces in his project, making it possible to identify them, Depoorter replies, \u201cYes, but they posted the pictures also.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At least one of the project\u2019s subjects is extremely unhappy. <em>The Follower<\/em> also identified Renata Costa and her partner Cleison <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Ch-1KiztgC0\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"T3D\">kissing outside the Temple Bar<\/a>. When contacted, Cleison declined to talk via Instagram video call, believing <em>Input <\/em>was behind the project. \u201cI would like you to delete my photo&#8230; immediately,\u201d Cleison writes. \u201cIt\u2019s a crime to use the image of a person without permission.\u201d Cleison says he\u2019ll be contacting his lawyers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When traveler Daniele Brito posed in front of the Temple Bar in Dublin, Ireland in late August, she likely didn\u2019t realize the camera was watching her. Yes, there was the one pointed at her, capturing a photograph that would later be shared to Brito\u2019s more than 2,700 followers on Instagram. But there was at least&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2022\/9\/13\/aaf26e0d-c522-45f7-a88e-a3402d8f16ea-opencamera-crop2.jpeg?w=1200&h=630&fit=crop&crop=faces&fm=jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsweek-trending"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}