With so many manipulated and AI generated images floating around, Home Team Media Inc. wants to provide images you know you can trust. Photo Courtesy of Home Team Media Inc.
MORRISBURG – In a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and digitally manipulated images, a new initiative by Home Team Media Inc. is aiming to place authenticity and trust back at the centre of visual storytelling.
Morrisburg-based photographer, journalist and educator Terry Tinkess is expanding the focus of Home Team Media Inc. to include two distinct but connected services: authenticated visual documentation for professional clients and what he describes as “enduring memory services” for individuals and families.
The initiative combines Tinkess’s background in Journalism and documentary photography with emerging technology designed to help verify the authenticity of digital images.
“We’re entering a time where any image can be questioned,” said Tinkess. “For years, photographs were generally accepted as evidence of something that happened. Now, with AI-generated imagery becoming increasingly sophisticated, that assumption no longer exists in the same way.”
The commercial side of the initiative is designed to serve insurance companies, legal firms, paralegals, municipalities and other organizations that rely on accurate visual documentation.
Using Leica photographic equipment integrated with the Content Authenticity Initiative, Tinkess said images include information embedded at capture designed to help demonstrate when and how a photograph was created.
“It doesn’t mean an image can never be challenged,” he explained. “But it does provide a stronger level of accountability and transparency around the process because it can be proven as authentic. In legal, insurance and documentation environments, that matters.”
Tinkess said the initiative is not focused on producing highly stylized commercial imagery, but rather on creating photographs that are accurate, reliable and grounded in documentary principles.
“This isn’t really about photography as art,” he said. “It’s about photography as documentation, creating images that clearly and honestly represent what was there.”
Home Team Media Inc. will initially serve communities across Eastern Ontario, including SDG, Cornwall, Prescott-Russell, Ottawa’s rural communities and Leeds-Grenville, but will accept commissions in other areas as well.
While the authenticated documentation side of the business addresses professional needs, Tinkess said the second part of the initiative is much more personal.
The “enduring memory services” branch combines photography, video, audio recording and archival material to help individuals and families preserve personal histories and life stories.
Tinkess said the idea grew out of years spent working as both a journalist and photographer in rural communities.
“You realize over time how many stories disappear,” he said. “People pass away, businesses close, farms change hands, and entire histories can be lost surprisingly quickly if no one takes the time to document them.”
Unlike traditional portrait photography, the service is intended to be more documentary in nature, focusing on people in their homes, workplaces and everyday environments.
“It’s less about creating a perfect portrait and more about preserving context,” said Tinkess. “The surroundings, the conversations, the details of daily life, those things become incredibly important over time.”
The approach can include recorded interviews, family histories, environmental portraiture and short documentary-style video pieces.
Tinkess believes the emotional value of that kind of documentation will only increase as society becomes more digitally fragmented and reliant on fast-moving content.
“We take more photographs now than at any other point in history, but I’m not sure we’re necessarily preserving more meaning,” he said. “A phone full of images that we create and forget isn’t the same thing as having a real record of someone’s life.”
The initiative reflects a broader concern Tinkess has about authenticity, not only in photography, but in communication generally.
“Trust has become one of the most valuable things we have, and at the same time, one of the hardest things to maintain,” he said. “Whether you’re documenting a property for an insurance claim or preserving a conversation with a parent or grandparent, the underlying issue is really the same. People want to know that what they’re looking at, hearing, or remembering is genuine.”
Tinkess’s background includes work in Journalism, education and professional photography, including experience teaching photography, media and communications. He said those experiences helped shape both the technical and philosophical direction of the new initiative. Add to that nearly two decades as a police officer, and the outcome is easy to understand.
“At its core, this is really an extension of how I’ve always approached my work,” he said. “Pay attention, document carefully, and try to represent people and situations honestly.”
Although the technology behind authenticated imagery is still relatively new, Tinkess believes awareness around the issue will continue to grow.
“I think we’re only at the beginning of this conversation,” he said. “As AI becomes more common, people are going to start asking more questions about where images come from and whether they can be trusted.”
At the same time, he hopes the more personal side of the business encourages people to think differently about preserving memories and family history.
“Most families have photographs,” he said. “But very few have recorded stories, voices or context. Those are often the things people wish they had later.”
For Tinkess, both sides of the initiative ultimately come back to the same idea.
“One part of the business is about creating images that can stand up to scrutiny,” he said. “The other is about capturing memories that can stand up to the ravages of time.”
You can reach Home Team Media Inc at 613-363-8962, by email at terry@hometeammedia.ca, or through their website (hometeammedia.ca).
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