Authenticity in Art: The Fake Plants Project

Handmade cyanotype prints on paper surrounded by handmade wet cyanotype prints of plants and flowers. The visual content includes photographic-looking images of a houseplant (that was generated using AI) surrounded by shadow prints of plants that were made with real plants and flowers. The print is predominantly blue with accents of yellow, brown, red, and pink. There is a white outline around the photographic-looking image that separates it from the shadow images of plants. The shadow images of plants are printed flush to the border of the paper. There are handwritten titles that are long strings of numbers and text separated by dashes. The print is numbered 1/1 and dated 2026. The print is signed by the artist Todd Dobbs x Midjourney.
Handmade cyanotype prints on paper surrounded by handmade wet cyanotype prints of plants and flowers. The visual content includes photographic-looking images of a houseplant (that was generated using AI) surrounded by shadow prints of plants that were made with real plants and flowers. The print is predominantly blue with accents of yellow, brown, red, and pink. There is a white outline around the photographic-looking image that separates it from the shadow images of plants. The shadow images of plants are printed flush to the border of the paper. There are handwritten titles that are long strings of numbers and text separated by dashes. The print is numbered 1/1 and dated 2026. The print is signed by the artist Todd Dobbs x Midjourney.
Handmade cyanotype prints on paper surrounded by handmade wet cyanotype prints of plants and flowers. The visual content includes photographic-looking images of a houseplant (that was generated using AI) surrounded by shadow prints of plants that were made with real plants and flowers. The print is predominantly blue with accents of yellow, brown, red, and pink. There is a white outline around the photographic-looking image that separates it from the shadow images of plants. The shadow images of plants are printed flush to the border of the paper. There are handwritten titles that are long strings of numbers and text separated by dashes. The print is numbered 1/1 and dated 2026. The print is signed by the artist Todd Dobbs x Midjourney.
Handmade cyanotype prints on paper surrounded by handmade wet cyanotype prints of plants and flowers. The visual content includes photographic-looking images of a houseplant (that was generated using AI) surrounded by shadow prints of plants that were made with real plants and flowers. The print is predominantly blue with accents of yellow, brown, red, and pink. There is a white outline around the photographic-looking image that separates it from the shadow images of plants. The shadow images of plants are printed flush to the border of the paper. There are handwritten titles that are long strings of numbers and text separated by dashes. The print is numbered 1/1 and dated 2026. The print is signed by the artist Todd Dobbs x Midjourney.
Handmade cyanotype prints on paper surrounded by handmade wet cyanotype prints of plants and flowers. The visual content includes photographic-looking images of a houseplant (that was generated using AI) surrounded by shadow prints of plants that were made with real plants and flowers. The print is predominantly blue with accents of yellow, brown, red, and pink. There is a white outline around the photographic-looking image that separates it from the shadow images of plants. The shadow images of plants are printed flush to the border of the paper. There are handwritten titles that are long strings of numbers and text separated by dashes. The print is numbered 1/1 and dated 2026. The print is signed by the artist Todd Dobbs x Midjourney.
Handmade cyanotype prints on paper surrounded by handmade wet cyanotype prints of plants and flowers. The visual content includes photographic-looking images of a houseplant (that was generated using AI) surrounded by shadow prints of plants that were made with real plants and flowers. The print is predominantly blue with accents of yellow, brown, red, and pink. There is a white outline around the photographic-looking image that separates it from the shadow images of plants. The shadow images of plants are printed flush to the border of the paper. There are handwritten titles that are long strings of numbers and text separated by dashes. The print is numbered 1/1 and dated 2026. The print is signed by the artist Todd Dobbs x Midjourney.
Handmade cyanotype prints on paper surrounded by handmade wet cyanotype prints of plants and flowers. The visual content includes photographic-looking images of a houseplant (that was generated using AI) surrounded by shadow prints of plants that were made with real plants and flowers. The print is predominantly blue with accents of yellow, brown, red, and pink. There is a white outline around the photographic-looking image that separates it from the shadow images of plants. The shadow images of plants are printed flush to the border of the paper. There are handwritten titles that are long strings of numbers and text separated by dashes. The print is numbered 1/1 and dated 2026. The print is signed by the artist Todd Dobbs x Midjourney.
Handmade cyanotype prints on paper surrounded by handmade wet cyanotype prints of plants and flowers. The visual content includes photographic-looking images of a houseplant (that was generated using AI) surrounded by shadow prints of plants that were made with real plants and flowers. The print is predominantly blue with accents of yellow, brown, red, and pink. There is a white outline around the photographic-looking image that separates it from the shadow images of plants. The shadow images of plants are printed flush to the border of the paper. There are handwritten titles that are long strings of numbers and text separated by dashes. The print is numbered 1/1 and dated 2026. The print is signed by the artist Todd Dobbs x Midjourney.
Handmade cyanotype prints on paper surrounded by handmade wet cyanotype prints of plants and flowers. The visual content includes photographic-looking images of a houseplant (that was generated using AI) surrounded by shadow prints of plants that were made with real plants and flowers. The print is predominantly blue with accents of yellow, brown, red, and pink. There is a white outline around the photographic-looking image that separates it from the shadow images of plants. The shadow images of plants are printed flush to the border of the paper. There are handwritten titles that are long strings of numbers and text separated by dashes. The print is numbered 1/1 and dated 2026. The print is signed by the artist Todd Dobbs x Midjourney.
Handmade cyanotype prints on paper surrounded by handmade wet cyanotype prints of plants and flowers. The visual content includes photographic-looking images of a houseplant (that was generated using AI) surrounded by shadow prints of plants that were made with real plants and flowers. The print is predominantly blue with accents of yellow, brown, red, and pink. There is a white outline around the photographic-looking image that separates it from the shadow images of plants. The shadow images of plants are printed flush to the border of the paper. There are handwritten titles that are long strings of numbers and text separated by dashes. The print is numbered 1/1 and dated 2026. The print is signed by the artist Todd Dobbs x Midjourney.
Handmade cyanotype prints on paper surrounded by handmade wet cyanotype prints of plants and flowers. The visual content includes photographic-looking images of a houseplant (that was generated using AI) surrounded by shadow prints of plants that were made with real plants and flowers. The print is predominantly blue with accents of yellow, brown, red, and pink. There is a white outline around the photographic-looking image that separates it from the shadow images of plants. The shadow images of plants are printed flush to the border of the paper. There are handwritten titles that are long strings of numbers and text separated by dashes. The print is numbered 1/1 and dated 2026. The print is signed by the artist Todd Dobbs x Midjourney.
Handmade cyanotype prints on paper surrounded by handmade wet cyanotype prints of plants and flowers. The visual content includes photographic-looking images of a houseplant (that was generated using AI) surrounded by shadow prints of plants that were made with real plants and flowers. The print is predominantly blue with accents of yellow, brown, red, and pink. There is a white outline around the photographic-looking image that separates it from the shadow images of plants. The shadow images of plants are printed flush to the border of the paper. There are handwritten titles that are long strings of numbers and text separated by dashes. The print is numbered 1/1 and dated 2026. The print is signed by the artist Todd Dobbs x Midjourney.
Handmade cyanotype prints on paper surrounded by handmade wet cyanotype prints of plants and flowers. The visual content includes photographic-looking images of a houseplant (that was generated using AI) surrounded by shadow prints of plants that were made with real plants and flowers. The print is predominantly blue with accents of yellow, brown, red, and pink. There is a white outline around the photographic-looking image that separates it from the shadow images of plants. The shadow images of plants are printed flush to the border of the paper. There are handwritten titles that are long strings of numbers and text separated by dashes. The print is numbered 1/1 and dated 2026. The print is signed by the artist Todd Dobbs x Midjourney.
Handmade cyanotype prints on paper surrounded by handmade wet cyanotype prints of plants and flowers. The visual content includes photographic-looking images of a houseplant (that was generated using AI) surrounded by shadow prints of plants that were made with real plants and flowers. The print is predominantly blue with accents of yellow, brown, red, and pink. There is a white outline around the photographic-looking image that separates it from the shadow images of plants. The shadow images of plants are printed flush to the border of the paper. There are handwritten titles that are long strings of numbers and text separated by dashes. The print is numbered 1/1 and dated 2026. The print is signed by the artist Todd Dobbs x Midjourney.

Fake Plants, Real Prints v2.0 (2026)

The handmade cyanotype prints are from AI image generations using the prompt “studio photograph of an unhealthy houseplant”. The wet cyanotype surrounding those images is made using real plants and flowers that were living at the time the print was made and exposed using sunlight. Sea salt, paprika, soap suds, and/or vinegar were also added to the wet cyanotype prints. All the chemistry was mixed by the artist from raw materials, coated on 100% cotton watercolor paper by hand, and processed by hand. The titles of the prints are the unique seed that Midjourney associates with each individual image generation using the same prompt. Only one print of each generation/wet cyanotype was made. This project explores the relationship between human artists and AI image generation, questioning authenticity, authorship, value, and originality.

Illustrations and Titles by Midjourney AI, Handmade Cyanotype Prints and Wet Cyanotype Prints by Todd Dobbs

Full bleed printed area on 11×15-inch sheet, hand titled, numbered, and signed

Available for exhibition and sale.

A cyanotype print with brush strokes at the edges of the frame and hand written titles and edition numbers underneath on smooth and warm watercolor paper. The image is a studio photograph of what appears to be a houseplant, however, the plant is not in a container and appears to be sitting in a pool of melting plant matter.
A cyanotype print with brush strokes at the edges of the frame and hand written titles and edition numbers underneath on smooth and warm watercolor paper. The image is a studio photograph of what appears to be a houseplant, however, the plant appears to be neglected and has overgrown its container.
A cyanotype print with brush strokes at the edges of the frame and hand written titles and edition numbers underneath on smooth and warm watercolor paper. The image is a studio photograph of what appears to be a houseplant, however, the tip of one of the leaves is on fire.
A cyanotype print with brush strokes at the edges of the frame and hand written titles and edition numbers underneath on smooth and warm watercolor paper. The image is a studio photograph of what appears to be a houseplant, however, the plant appears to be neglected and has overgrown the container.
A cyanotype print with brush strokes at the edges of the frame and hand written titles and edition numbers underneath on smooth and warm watercolor paper. The image is a studio photograph of what appears to be a houseplant, however, the plant appears to be melting down the side of the container and is pooling to the left.
A cyanotype print with brush strokes at the edges of the frame and hand written titles and edition numbers underneath on smooth and warm watercolor paper. The image is a studio photograph of what appears to be a houseplant, however, the plant appears to be melting down the side of the container.
A cyanotype print with brush strokes at the edges of the frame and hand written titles and edition numbers underneath on smooth and warm watercolor paper. The image is a studio photograph of what appears to be a houseplant, however, the plant appears to be inside a shredded metal can without a flat base to rest on and is missing a bloom at the end of the dominant stem.
A cyanotype print with brush strokes at the edges of the frame and hand written titles and edition numbers underneath on smooth and warm watercolor paper. The image is a studio photograph of what appears to be a houseplant, however, the plants appear to be yard weeds and are in a state of dehydration with dead plant matter surrounding the container.
A cyanotype print with brush strokes at the edges of the frame and hand written titles and edition numbers underneath on smooth and warm watercolor paper. The image is a studio photograph of what appears to be a houseplant, however, the vase appears to have plants melting down the side of it.
A cyanotype print with brush strokes at the edges of the frame and hand written titles and edition numbers underneath on smooth and warm watercolor paper. The image is a studio photograph of what appears to be a houseplant, however, the container the plant is in does not appear like it should be able to hold the plant and dirt and has dead leaves at its base.
A cyanotype print with brush strokes at the edges of the frame and hand written titles and edition numbers underneath on smooth and warm watercolor paper. The image is a studio photograph of what appears to be a houseplant, however, the plan appears to be melting indicated by dripping coming from the leaves.
A cyanotype print with brush strokes at the edges of the frame and hand written titles and edition numbers underneath on smooth and warm watercolor paper. The image is a studio photograph of what appears to be a houseplant, however, the plant has busted out of the mason jar it was placed in and is spilling onto the table.

Fake Plants, Real Prints (2023)

Handmade cyanotype prints printed from images generated using Midjourney AI and the prompt: studio photograph of an unhealthy house plant. The prints are limited to 1/1 and are titled by the generator using the provided seed phrase associated with each outcome. This conceptual project is a collaboration between human and machine and directly questions the value of art created in whole or part by AI, as well as whether or not AI itself can be considered an art form. Much like the Pictorialists with their petroleum jelly-smeared lenses that created photographs that resembled accepted styles of painting as a way to validate photography as an art form, this sleight of hand attempts to use established visual methods for traditional artworks to imbue these AI-assisted creations with the same power and perceived value of the “real” thing.

Illustrations and Titles by Midjourney AI, Handmade Cyanotype Prints by Todd Dobbs

~5×5-inch printed area on 7×10-inch sheet, hand titled, numbered, and signed (signature redacted in this version)

Available for exhibition and sale.