How does a brand stay relevant for more than 150 years?
Leica shows you how — and yes, it has to do with fake news
Photography buffs will recognise the image I used for this post in the blink of an eye. It is taken by war photographer Robert Capa and captures a dramatic moment in the Spanish civil war, when a freedom fighter is shot.* Almost as famous as the photograph and the photographer is the camera that was used to capture it: the Leica M series.
As one of the first reliable 35mm cameras, it was compact enough for reporters to carry on their often hazardous endeavours. And the optical quality of the lenses met the most demanding newspaper standards. So it became the weapon of choice for the biggest names in photographic history: Magnum Founder Henri-Cartier Bresson, Annie Leibovitz, Ernest Hemingway and Sebastião Salgado to name but some.
Surviving the Digital Storm
When digital photography happened, the analogue camera brands suffered. Nikon, Canon Inc. and Leica struggled to survive. They were hurt by Sony in the professional market and by virtually any smartphone on the amateur market. Once household names went bust: Minolta, Yashica, Olympus, Rollei cameras didn't survive the digital transformation.
The strong brands bounced back: Nikon and Canon today have cameras that are up there with the Sony system cameras and offer their lenses on top.
Leica did so by rediscovering its essence: enabling reporters worldwide to make the difference with images that show the truth.
One of the most pressing issues these reporters are facing today? Fake images. These include images generated by AI, images from another time/place then claimed, images manipulated with Photoshop.
Credible Content
That's why Leica just launched the world’s 1st Camera with built-in Content Credentials. To do so, Leica implemented the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) framework in its camera. This standard was co-founded by Adobe in 2019 to help combat the threat of misinformation and help creators get credit for their work. Today the CAI is a coalition of nearly 2,000 members, including Leica Camera, AFP, the Associated Press, the BBC, Getty Images, Microsoft, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and more, all working together to add a verifiable layer of transparency and trust to content online – via secure metadata called Content Credentials.
Each image captured will receive a digital signature, and the authenticity of images can be easily checked by verifying when it was produced, who the author was and whether the image is altered with photo-editing software, that is shown in the signature too.
“Leica cameras have always stood witness to iconic moments in world history. However, determining the authenticity of visual content has become increasingly difficult and important in the age of digital photography. Now with the ability to provide this proof, we are once again strengthening trust in digital content and re-establishing Leica cameras as authoritative tools in the documentation of world events.”
Will that be enough to fight fake news? Hardly.
Is digital signage the way forward to tell fact from fake? Likely.
Does Leica understand its core and the role it can play in today's society? Totally!
* When I posted this story on Linkedin, Art Director Paul Popelier pointed out that the image from Capa is generally considered a fake itself. Though I had seen the picture In Real Life and while I knew Capa’s pictures from the landing in Normandy were often doubted, I never questioned the authenticity of the
Civil War picture. An article in the Times confirms that the picture is actually a fake itself. While certainly ironic, it certainly proves the point that the problem is real and Leica is doing its part in fighting it.