The fake couple
Anything but "magnifique"
When this image of the sculptors Auguste Rodin and Camille Claudel first appeared on Twitter in April, the first comment was “Magnifique cette photo”. It’s anything but “magnifique” - and in this post I’d like to explain why.
The other week I posted a pic of Bob Dylan, and pointed out that a photo with an inaccurate caption - Bob Dylan playing chess in Paris - had been published many times on social media. I followed the trail through one particular account which has over a million followers on Twitter but which certainly doesn’t prioritise accurately documenting the past. That post is here; https://davehaslam.substack.com/p/bob-dylan-isnt-in-paris
This image of Rodin and Camille Claudel is more pernicious. It’s invented. It’s generated via Ai. It’s imaginary despite being presented as a bona fide historical photograph, and appears to be based on a photograph of Rodin taken around 1891, and one of Camille from 1884 (there are less than a handful of photos of Claudel, and none of her with Rodin). Not only is this Ai image deceiving, but as a representation of the relationship between Rodin and Camille Claudel it’s seriously flawed.
Fortunately, a day or two after it was posted, a community note was added to the original tweet, rightly pointing out it’s an “image trompeuse” (a “misleading image”), explaining its Ai origins.
It's a glamorous pseudo selfie of Rodin and Camille Claudel. Camille Claudel looks like a film star, unblemished and happy. There’s a reply to the tweet; “What a beautiful picture. They were beautiful.” And another - originally in Polish - “Absolutely beautiful photography”.
It’s far from a likeness of her. She was a beautiful women with an arresting look, in my opinion, but not a doll in the immaculate way the Ai image conjures up. This photo captures the reality…
This is Camille Claudel in 1884, by a photographer going by the name of Cesar. It’s quite a leap from this to the Ai image - a leap into fantasy and deception.
What’s most galling is the visual misrepresentation skews how a viewer is likely to regard the relationship between Camille Claudel and Rodin. In the Ai image, Camille looks sparkly, other worldly, at ease and in love. Her and Rodin appear to be an untroubled couple, heads touching in a way that suggests a closeness and perfect intimacy. They’re both looking straight at us, in a carefree, candid, and uncomplicated way.
This version of their relationship is far from the truth. It was toxic, and with as grim an ending for Camille as can be imagined.