The Ballarat International Foto Biennale is on track to welcome more than 30,000 visitors as the two-month festival of photography enters its final weeks.
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But the BIFB has stepped into controversial territory in its final weeks, exploring images created using artificial intelligence and their place in photography.
The inaugural Prompted Peculiar - International AI Prize was announced on October 8 with Swedish photographer Annika Nordenskiold taking home the award for her work Twin Sisters in Love.
BIFB chief executive Vanessa Gerrans said the event did not step back from the debate about the use of AI in photography.
"When we were looking at establishing the National Centre for Photography [in Lydiard St] we were making sure we were looking at photography and future trends in photography and the expansion of photography which led us to AI. It is connected, though the association is still being tested," Ms Gerrans said.
Earlier this year German artist Boris Eldagsen rejected the prestigious Sony World Photography Award after revealing his image was created with AI.
"AI images and photography should not compete with each other in an award like this. They are different entities. AI is not photography. Therefore I will not accept the award," he wrote on his website.
Ms Gerrans said the Prompted Peculiar competition and exhibition was created in response to that.
"Knowing we want to be part of this conversation, we reacted by staging an AI only show so it's not competing with photography in an exhibition as such, but it's part of photographic festival. It's that opportunity to have that conversation - people react in different ways."
Nordenskiold's work Twin Sisters in Love, portrayed two sisters lovingly cuddling an octopus except the location, people and creature do not exist.
Judges described how the artist most convincingly managed to create an image that looks real and at the same time plays with our idea of reality.
Victorian artist Hanna Silver received the highest number of votes in the people's choice prize for her work Robot Intermarriage, Melbourne 1895, 2023.
The first-time event received more than 100 submissions from around the world including work from artists in Sweden, Czechia, Israel, Germany and across Australia.
Ms Gerrans said the overall audience for the BIFB, the 10th edition of the festival, was "massively ahead of our target".
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"Halfway through we were over 15,000 through the Art Gallery alone ... and we are on target to exceed our target of 30,000 visitors".
She said feedback from local businesses and venues hosting BIFB open program exhibitions had been positive with good visitor numbers at different sites, including strong visitation from interstate and from Melbourne.
The festival's second last weekend, on October 14 and 15, is dedicated to photo books while the final weekend on October 21 and 22 will see the announcement of the open program winner and a celebration, open to everyone, of a successful event.
The full BIFB program and exhibition locations are at ballaratfoto.org.
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