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| AI imagery can bring dolls to life. |
Artificial intelligence (AI) can be useful in many ways. I use it for general information. It's a next-level Google, but I always fact-check the information it provides by verifying its sources.
It's been most useful for me in creating doll images that fit specific themes, topics, and celebrations to share across several social media platforms. This post and a few others will share doll images (in no certain theme or event order) that I've created over the past several months with AI, using real or AI-imagined dolls.
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| A headshot and full-view image of Bernard Ravca's 1940s portrait doll of Joe Louis "the Brown Bomber," were placed in a WWII setting in tribute to Louis's military service. This one-of-a-kind doll was also my favorite doll purchase of 2025. |
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| Made of hard plastic in England for the British market, this 1950s 12-inch Rosebud Baby was placed in a 1950s nursery room setting. |
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| Fashion dolls gather to read books. |
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| Younger dolls in a library setting are engaged by the books they read. |
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| Reliable's 30-inch 1961 "Coloured" Nurse Walking Doll was placed in a 1960s bedroom setting. |
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| Mia dolls by Nines d'Onil were placed in a cozy home setting. |
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| Playpals and other walker dolls enjoy the outside in a playground setting. |
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| Nines d'Onil's Pippa enjoys being outdoors on a perfect spring day. |
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Adora's Jada was redressed by AI and placed in an "earthy" setting to celebrate Earth Day 2026 on April 22nd.
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Joe Louis, Rosebud, the Coloured Nurse Walking Doll, the Nines d'Onil dolls, Patti Playpals, and "Earth Day" Jada images were created using photos of dolls from my collection. The other images were AI-generated responses based on prompt directives.
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All photos and text are copyrighted and may not be used elsewhere without the author's permission.
©Black Doll Collecting/
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I only just recently discovered this blog when researching the source brand of a bootleg I discovered, who took molds from the Kenya Fashion Madness line. I was grateful for your older work documenting those dolls, and excited to see what else you had done, only to be met with this post on the front page and end up immediately disappointed.
ReplyDeleteGenerative AI is too often a substitute for creativity rather than being a true creative partner. It preys upon human creation as its sources, and the infrastructure required to maintain it is massively detrimental to the environment and communities who don't have the power to refuse local developments in service of AI. Also, the images also just don't look good very often, especially in the case of fully-fabricated models. There's some tricky leeway in terms of tools that edit raw photos and which help place a subject into another space, but there exist manual ways to do those things as well. I speak as somebody devoted to doll photography and artistic work with dolls on my own blog, but I can't imagine not putting in the work to stage or edit things more with my own hands. I've tried out some AI tools in the past with filters to alter the rendering style of a photo, and it left me feeling wrong and I've never done it since. I'd rather have no pictures of a doll in clothing that doesn't exist, or dolls that don't exist, if they weren't rendered by a human. Anybody can learn skills, or find and support those who already have them so they can realize a vision organically.
I appreciate the work that's been done with this blog over the years. I feel that use of AI imagery is directly counter to the humanist mission of dolls and representation.
Thank you for taking the time to share your perspective. I appreciate that you found value in my older work, particularly my documentation of the Kenya Fashion Madness dolls, and I understand that generative AI is something you have strong reservations about; however, I want to clarify how I use it.
DeleteI am a doll collector, historian, researcher, and blogger—not a doll photographer or digital artist. My love of Black dolls began in 1991, and I have documented that journey on this blog since 2008. I recently began using AI primarily as a tool to extend what I can do with my own doll photography: creating social-media themes, changing backgrounds, envisioning clothing and settings, and enhancing or correcting photographs. It allows me to accomplish things in minutes that would otherwise require me to learn skills and software that aren't part of my creative toolbox.
My use of AI isn't intended to replace artists, photographers, or people who have developed those skills. I have great respect for their work. It simply gives me another way to explore and share my enthusiasm for dolls.
You're certainly welcome to prefer a different approach to doll imagery. I simply hope you'll also respect my choice to explore this technology within my own creative practice. The technology may be new, but my love of Black dolls and my commitment to documenting and sharing their stories are not.
I also think of this blog as my little corner of the doll-collecting world—a home where I invite others to explore, learn, and follow my journey. Someone visiting another person's home may not share their decorating style, but that doesn't make the homeowner's choices wrong.
And perhaps most importantly, I don't expect everyone who enters my blogosphere to like every room in my house. 😊
You're welcome here—even when we don't agree about the decor.