What if you could retake your favorite memories years after they happened, fixing the lighting, catching the smile, or even opening your eyes?
In this conversation, a16z General Partner Martin Casado and Partner Yoko Li sit down with scientist and Lytro founder Ren Ng along with Phota Labs cofounders Cecilia Zhang and Zhihao “Zach” Xia to explore the past, present, and future of computational photography.
They trace the story from the invention of light-field cameras and the evolution of smartphone photography to today’s AI powered retakes that preserve identity and context in ways filters never could. Together they reflect on how AI is changing what it means to capture a moment, why authenticity matters as much as aesthetics, and how the future of photography may no longer depend on a lens at all but on models that know you.
Resources:
Find Cecilia on GitHub: https://ceciliavision.github.io/
Find Zach on GitHub: https://likesum.github.io/
Find Ren on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renng
Find Yoko on X: https://x.com/stuffyokodraws
Find Martin on X: https://x.com/martin_casado
Timecodes:
00:00 The Decisive Moment in Photography
00:33 Introduction to Computational Photography
01:05 Personal Histories and Connections
02:27 Evolution of Computational Photography
04:15 The Birth of Light Field Photography
07:28 From Hardware to Software Innovations
08:52 Founding of Photo Labs
11:10 Generative AI in Photography
13:54 The Future of Photography
14:47 Personalized Visual Gen AI
16:27 User Reactions and Real-World Applications
17:44 Technical Innovations and Challenges
24:11 New Use Cases and Exciting Prospects
25:34 The Essence of Slide Photography
26:16 The Future of Photography: Generative AI
28:58 Authenticity in Photography
32:11 Generative AI and User Behavior
34:39 The Impact of Generative AI on Photography
37:02 The Evolution of Photography Styles
46:20 The Future of Computational Photography
Check out everything a16z is doing with artificial intelligence here, including articles, projects, and more podcasts.
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