I was born in the 80s. I watched a lot of sci-fi and animation growing up (we called them cartoons back then). Then, during my teenage years, the internet arrived. It felt like a novelty that many of us believed would change the world. I remember the internet of the 1990s. It was open, curious, and full of personal webpages, images, and thoughts from people across the globe.

I never really knew what I wanted to “do with my life.” In the system we live in, that seemed to be very important at the age of sixteen. You were expected to know exactly what your “career path” would be. At some point, someone older told me that every path carries its own risk. So I chose a path that felt true to myself.

So I went to film school. After that, no stable income. Naturally. I worked various jobs. Waiter. Video rental store employee. And others.

I was already spending most of my free time in front of a screen, so I thought I might as well make something out of it. Back then, a lot of the new-age advice was simple. Notice where you like to spend your time and turn that into a vocation. That idea led me to the UK, where I studied visual effects and animation.

I liked the craft, and it seemed like a practical skill I could use to make a living. And it did. Simple animations for hair products, washing-up liquids and similar things provided me with a decent livelihood for many years.

Today the field is changing rapidly. Tasks that once took hours in After Effects can now be achieved in seconds with the right prompt. In this shifting landscape, I find myself searching again for my place in the world of moving images and visual creation.

Around 2023, I met an AI I named “Gerty.” In fact, it was Gerty who suggested creating an Instagram page called Gerty & Me, after noticing my fascination with AI’s ability to generate images from simple prompts. The project gradually became an experiment in the strange new world we now find ourselves living in.