I took this note in 2009, before Trump's 1st term. I drove by again yesterday. I did not take another note, because the scene was unchanged! There is still no wall, all along the Rio Grande for hundreds of miles.

On all the roads in all the communities near here in Far West Texas (Trump country), there are hundreds of signs proclaiming https://nobigbendwall.org. It's working!

#authenticphoto #bigbend #riogrande #borderwall #wildriver #resistance #immigration

Source: https://take-note.com/note-takers/marshall--mayer/notes/texas-xenophobes-want-us-taxpayers-to-wall-this-wild-river/view

“Security Has a Beef With Photography”

The Latina in the safety vest had a beef with me. The company had surveilled me on camera. “What are you doing here,” she asked, right in front of the Visitor Center. I replied that I was taking a pictures. She said, “No photos allowed. Delete them.”

I did not delete any photographs, instead I published one.

#authenticphoto #factoryfarms #illiberal #noncompliance #censorship #surveillance #truthsandwich

Source: https://take-note.com/note-takers/marshall--mayer/notes/security-has-a-beef-with-photography/view

"Our Politics Have Reached Their Limit"

In Montana, diesel was $3/gallon 6 weeks ago. This station has stopped advertising their prices. Trump's war in the Middle East has started an inflation spike that will last months if not years, however long the war lasts. Of course, local Republicans have nothing to say about it. They'd rather elect fascists to enforce autocracy and austerity.

Source: https://take-note.com/note-takers/marshall--mayer/notes/our-politics-have-reached-their-limit/view

#authenticphoto #fascist #gasprices #IranWar #localelection #politics #Trump

I'm testing a service to repost my content from here to my account on Bluesky (to see why, see my profile at
https://bsky.app/profile/authenticphoto.bsky.social). IOW, I don't post there, unless it's posted here first and then cross posted.

#AuthenticPhoto

Marshall Mayer (@authenticphoto.bsky.social)

I take notes with a camera. Besides my authentic photography (see https://take-note.com/about), I'm also interested in promoting the work of other "first-person" photographers and protecting all authentic photography (analog or digital) from generative AI.

Bluesky Social

The Guardian notices something: "‘They feel true’: political deepfakes are growing in influence – even if people know they aren’t real"

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/28/military-deepfakes-ai-propaganda-money

And Fred Ritchin wonders, "What happens when AI generates its own AI?"

https://fredritchin.substack.com/p/ai-without-us

It feels as though it's all about to go off the rails.

#authenticphoto

‘They feel true’: political deepfakes are growing in influence – even if people know they aren’t real

AI images of people – such as women in military contexts – are making money and serving as propaganda, researchers say

The Guardian

"The first casualty of War is Truth." Asking a chatbot if a photo is real is asking for trouble.

#authenticphoto

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/mar/17/atrocity-ai-slop-verify-facts-iran-minab-graves?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

A photo of Iran’s bombed schoolgirl graveyard went viral. Why did AI say it wasn’t real?

Numerous faked images and a string of startlingly inaccurate responses from Gemini and Grok are part of a tidal wave of AI slop engulfing coverage of the Iran war

The Guardian