Reality, interpretation and the visual record

Images are central to Roberts London.

Photography and film record places, people, objects and experiences. Created imagery allows Roberts London to establish atmosphere, explore an idea and build a distinctive visual language around subjects for which a literal documentary photograph may not be appropriate.

Both have a legitimate place within the publication.

The distinction between them matters.

Our central principle is:

Documentary imagery records what was there.
Created imagery interprets an idea.
One should never knowingly be presented as the other.

This policy explains how Roberts London approaches photography, film, digital editing, generative artificial intelligence and other forms of created imagery.

Documentary photography

Documentary photography is imagery intended to represent an actual person, place, event, object or experience.

Examples include:

• A restaurant visited by Roberts London.
• A London street or building.
• An exhibition or performance.
• A shop or hotel.
• An interview subject.
• An object examined or offered through the Roberts London Shop.
• A working studio or workshop.
• An event attended by Roberts London.
• Archive material accurately identified as historic.

When an image is presented as documentary, Roberts London aims to preserve the essential factual truth of what was photographed.

This does not mean that documentary photography must be visually neutral.

Roberts London may make deliberate choices concerning:

• Composition.
• Lens.
• Exposure.
• Lighting.
• Depth of field.
• Camera position.
• Colour balance.
• Cropping.
• Timing.
• Editing and sequencing.

These choices are part of photography.

They should not be used to create a materially false account of the subject.

Documentary integrity

A documentary image should not knowingly be altered in a way that materially changes the factual meaning of the scene without appropriate disclosure.

Ordinary photographic adjustments may include:

• Exposure correction.
• White balance.
• Colour grading.
• Contrast.
• Highlight and shadow adjustment.
• Noise reduction.
• Sharpening.
• Lens correction.
• Cropping.
• Straightening.
• Removal of sensor dust or minor technical imperfections.

More substantial alterations require greater care.

Roberts London will not ordinarily remove, add or materially relocate significant people, objects or architectural features within an image presented as an unaltered documentary record where doing so would change the reader’s understanding of what existed.

Retouching

Retouching may be used where it does not materially misrepresent the subject.

Examples may include:

• Removing temporary dust or sensor marks.
• Correcting a distracting photographic artefact.
• Minor skin or fabric corrections in an editorial portrait.
• Removing personally identifying information that should not be published.
• Obscuring a private number plate, address or personal document.
• Correcting perspective or lens distortion.

Where manipulation materially changes the factual significance of an image, Roberts London will either:

• Disclose that alteration.
• Present the work as an illustration rather than documentary photography.
• Choose not to use the altered image.

Created editorial imagery

Roberts London may use imagery created specifically to express:

• Atmosphere.
• Mood.
• Editorial identity.
• A conceptual idea.
• A category or theme.
• A historical or cultural impression.
• An imagined scene.
• A visual introduction to a body of work.

Created imagery may involve:

• Generative artificial intelligence.
• Digital illustration.
• Compositing.
• Photomontage.
• Extensive digital manipulation.
• A combination of photography and generated elements.
• Other creative digital processes.

Such imagery is editorial illustration.

It is not documentary evidence merely because it has been rendered in a photographic style.

Roberts London visual imagery

Roberts London uses a distinctive created visual language across parts of the website.

This may include cinematic, hyper-realistic images inspired by the atmosphere of London rather than literal photographic records of a specific moment.

These images may depict:

• Imagined interiors.
• Composite London environments.
• Anonymous fictional figures.
• Invented arrangements of objects.
• Architectural scenes informed by real London.
• Conceptual representations of hospitality, culture, shopping, sightseeing or private observation.

The purpose is to establish the visual world of Roberts London.

Where such an image could reasonably be interpreted as a factual photograph of a specific place, person, event or product, its illustrative nature should be made clear.

Category and landing-page imagery

Created imagery may be used extensively on category and landing pages such as:

• Hospitality.
• Art & Culture.
• Shops & Stores.
• Sightseeing.
• Notebook.
• About Roberts London.

These images function primarily as editorial scene-setting.

They do not necessarily depict:

• A named venue.
• An actual customer.
• A real event.
• A particular moment.
• A product available for purchase.
• A location that exists exactly as shown.

Where an image represents a broad editorial theme rather than a factual subject, individual image-by-image labels may not always be necessary where the context makes that illustrative purpose clear.

Where confusion is reasonably likely, Roberts London will provide suitable context or disclosure.

Images accompanying specific places

Greater care is required when a created image appears beside an article concerning a named real place.

Roberts London will not knowingly use a fictional photorealistic image in a way that suggests:

• A restaurant interior looks exactly as depicted when it does not.
• A hotel room exists when it does not.
• An exhibition contained objects that were never present.
• A shop displayed products it never stocked.
• A historic event was photographed when no such photograph exists.
• A person attended an event when they did not.

Where created imagery is used conceptually alongside a real subject, it should be identified or presented in a context that does not mislead the reader into treating it as documentary evidence.

Product photography

Images used to sell products through the Roberts London Shop require a particularly high standard of factual accuracy.

Primary product photography should ordinarily depict the actual item being offered for sale where the item is:

• Vintage.
• Antique.
• Previously owned.
• Individually sourced.
• Unique.
• Sold as a specific example.

Editing must not conceal material characteristics relevant to a purchasing decision.

Roberts London will not knowingly use image manipulation to hide:

• Damage.
• Significant wear.
• Repairs.
• Missing components.
• Material discolouration.
• Relevant hallmarks or marks.
• Significant differences between the photographed item and the item supplied.

Ordinary colour, exposure, dust and presentation adjustments may be made provided that the resulting image remains a fair representation of the product.

Generated imagery and products

Generative AI will not be used as a substitute for accurate primary product photography where a customer reasonably needs to see the actual item being purchased.

Created images may be used for:

• Editorial campaigns.
• Category introductions.
• Conceptual styling.
• Social content.
• Decorative backgrounds.

They should not create a materially false impression of the condition, dimensions, materials, colour, included accessories or appearance of a product offered for sale.

Historical imagery

Roberts London may publish:

• Historic photographs.
• Prints.
• Drawings.
• Paintings.
• Maps.
• Advertisements.
• Catalogues.
• Documents.
• Archive reproductions.

Historic material should be described accurately according to what is known.

Where a historic image has been:

• Colourised.
• Restored.
• Reconstructed.
• Enlarged using AI.
• Materially repaired.
• Completed beyond the surviving original.

Roberts London will consider whether disclosure is needed to avoid creating a misleading impression about the original source.

Digital restoration intended only to improve legibility or repair obvious reproduction damage may not always require individual disclosure where the historical meaning remains unchanged.

Reconstruction

A visual reconstruction may sometimes help explain a subject for which no adequate documentary image exists.

Examples might include:

• A lost London interior.
• An historic streetscape.
• An earlier appearance of a building.
• The likely arrangement of an historical object.
• A scene described in archival records.

A reconstruction should not be presented as an original historical photograph.

Where necessary, it should be described using language such as:

• Editorial reconstruction.
• Visual reconstruction.
• Artist’s reconstruction.
• AI-assisted reconstruction.
• Created editorial image.

The wording should reflect the method actually used.

Use of generative artificial intelligence

Roberts London may use generative AI as one tool within its editorial and creative process.

Potential uses include:

• Creating editorial illustrations.
• Developing visual concepts.
• Exploring compositions.
• Producing backgrounds or atmospheric scenes.
• Assisting image restoration or expansion.
• Supporting research organisation.
• Generating working drafts or alternatives.
• Assisting transcription, categorisation or other production tasks.

The use of AI does not remove human editorial responsibility.

Material published under the Roberts London name remains subject to Roberts London’s editorial judgement.

Human responsibility

Roberts London does not treat AI output as inherently accurate.

Generated material may contain:

• Invented facts.
• False quotations.
• Incorrect dates.
• Misidentified people.
• Impossible architecture.
• Inaccurate objects.
• False historical details.
• Anatomical errors.
• Misleading text.
• Fabricated sources.

AI output used in research or production must therefore be considered critically.

The final responsibility for publication remains human.

AI and factual research

Generative AI may assist with:

• Identifying areas for research.
• Organising notes.
• Comparing themes.
• Developing questions.
• Summarising material that Roberts London is entitled to process.
• Structuring working drafts.

It will not be treated as a sufficient primary source for a material factual claim.

Important facts should be checked against appropriate sources according to the Roberts London Editorial Standards.

AI-generated citations, quotations and source references must not be assumed to be genuine merely because they appear plausible.

Read Editorial Standards →

AI and writing

Roberts London may use AI tools during the writing and editing process.

This may include assistance with:

• Draft structure.
• Grammar.
• Editing.
• Alternative wording.
• Research organisation.
• Metadata.
• Transcription.
• SEO components.
• Summarisation of working material.

Roberts London remains responsible for the final published text.

The use of an AI tool during ordinary drafting or editing does not necessarily require an individual disclosure on every article.

Disclosure becomes more important where AI materially creates the substance of work in circumstances where a reader would reasonably expect to know that fact.

No fabricated reporting

Roberts London will not knowingly use AI to fabricate:

• A visit that did not occur.
• An interview that did not take place.
• A quotation that was never given.
• A source that does not exist.
• A customer testimonial.
• A review based on an invented experience.
• A historic document.
• Documentary evidence.
• A factual photograph of an event that never happened.

An imagined scene may be used as illustration.

It must not be presented as proof of a real event.

Real people and AI-generated images

Particular care is required where generative AI is used to depict an identifiable real person.

Roberts London will consider:

• Whether the depiction is necessary.
• Whether the person has consented where appropriate.
• Whether the image could reasonably be mistaken for a genuine photograph.
• Whether it attributes behaviour, speech, attendance or endorsement that did not occur.
• Whether it is defamatory, intrusive or otherwise harmful.
• Whether personal data is being processed fairly and lawfully.
• Whether a clear disclosure is required.

Roberts London will not knowingly create or publish a realistic fabricated image of a real person in a manner that falsely suggests they:

• Said something they did not say.
• Attended somewhere they did not attend.
• Endorsed Roberts London or a product when they did not.
• Took part in conduct that did not occur.

Portraits and commissioned likenesses

AI-assisted or created portraits may be used where the subject has knowingly participated in the creative process or where another legitimate editorial basis exists.

Where a created portrait could reasonably be mistaken for a conventional photograph, its nature should be made clear where that distinction is material.

Stylistic enhancement does not justify materially misrepresenting a real person in a harmful or deceptive way.

Fictional people

Created editorial imagery may include fictional people who do not represent identifiable real individuals.

Such figures may be used to create:

• Scale.
• Movement.
• Atmosphere.
• Narrative.
• A sense of human presence.

Roberts London will seek to avoid presenting fictional figures in a context that implies they are named real customers, employees, experts, contributors or witnesses.

Children

Roberts London will exercise particular caution when using AI-generated or manipulated imagery involving children.

Created imagery should not:

• Sexualise children.
• Place a real child into a fabricated harmful context.
• Create false evidence concerning a child.
• Exploit a child’s identity or likeness.
• Create a misleading endorsement or testimony.

Where a real child’s image or personal data is involved, Roberts London will consider consent, privacy, safety and the long-term consequences of publication with particular care.

Sensitive and intimate imagery

Roberts London will not knowingly create or publish non-consensual sexually explicit or intimate deepfake imagery.

It will not use generative tools to fabricate intimate conduct involving a real person.

The same principle applies regardless of whether the resulting image is intended as humour, commentary or visual experimentation.

Voice and video synthesis

The same standards apply to generated:

• Video.
• Audio.
• Voice.
• Lip-synchronisation.
• Digital avatars.
• Animated likenesses.

Roberts London will not knowingly create a realistic synthetic recording that falsely attributes words, conduct or endorsement to a real person without an appropriate legitimate basis and disclosure.

Where synthetic media is used creatively, the context should not materially deceive the audience about what actually occurred.

Personal data and AI tools

Roberts London will take care before entering personal, confidential or commercially sensitive information into an external AI service.

Information should not be uploaded merely because doing so is convenient.

Particular caution applies to:

• Customer information.
• Private correspondence.
• Payment information.
• Unpublished personal data.
• Confidential business documents.
• Embargoed material.
• Private photographs.
• Sensitive personal information.
• Information provided under an expectation of confidentiality.

Use of personal information with AI tools remains subject to the Roberts London Privacy Notice and applicable data-protection principles.

Read the Privacy Notice →

Confidential sources

Confidential source material should not be entered into a third-party generative AI service where doing so could compromise:

• The identity of a source.
• A confidentiality agreement.
• An embargo.
• Legal privilege.
• Personal privacy.
• The security of unpublished material.

An AI tool is not automatically a private notebook.

Copyright and intellectual property

Roberts London respects copyright and other intellectual-property rights when using both traditional and AI-assisted production methods.

Before using third-party material, Roberts London will consider:

• Who owns or controls the material.
• Whether permission or a licence exists.
• Whether a statutory exception applies.
• Any attribution requirements.
• Any restrictions imposed by an archive, photographer, artist, publisher or platform.

The use of AI does not create a general exemption from copyright or other intellectual-property law.

Where legal ownership or permitted use of AI-generated output is uncertain, Roberts London will consider the relevant circumstances before commercial publication.

Style references

Creative work is influenced by visual history.

Roberts London may describe internal creative direction through references to:

• Eras.
• Genres.
• Schools of photography.
• Cinematic traditions.
• Materials.
• Lighting.
• Fashion periods.
• Editorial moods.

The objective is to develop a coherent Roberts London visual language rather than to misrepresent another creator’s work as Roberts London’s own.

Where commissioned or generated imagery is intended for commercial publication, Roberts London will seek to use outputs that are sufficiently original and appropriate for their intended purpose.

Logos, trade marks and brands

Generated imagery can reproduce logos, trade marks or recognisable brand elements inaccurately.

Roberts London will review created images before publication and, where appropriate:

• Remove unintended brand marks.
• Avoid false brand associations.
• Avoid implying sponsorship or endorsement.
• Avoid using invented logos that could be confused with real businesses.

A real brand may appear where its inclusion is editorially justified, but the image should not falsely imply a commercial relationship.

Architecture and locations

Created images inspired by London may combine:

• Real architectural traditions.
• Imagined interiors.
• Composite streets.
• Altered viewpoints.
• Fictional details.

Such images should not be used to support a specific factual claim about a real building or place unless that claim has been independently verified.

An atmospheric depiction of “London” is different from a documentary photograph labelled as a precise address.

Accuracy before beauty

Roberts London has a strong visual identity.

That identity does not justify making documentary material less truthful.

Where aesthetic perfection conflicts with factual accuracy in a documentary context:

Accuracy takes priority.

Where imaginative freedom is required:

The work should be treated as editorial illustration.

This distinction allows Roberts London to remain both visually ambitious and editorially trustworthy.

Labels and disclosures

Depending upon context, Roberts London may use descriptions such as:

Documentary Photograph

Used where clarification is useful that the image records the actual subject.

Archive Image

Used for historical material where context requires it.

Editorial Illustration

Used for created imagery representing an idea or atmosphere.

AI-Generated Editorial Image

Used where generative AI materially produced the image and disclosure is relevant.

AI-Assisted Image

Used where generative or machine-learning tools materially altered or extended an underlying image.

Visual Reconstruction

Used where an image recreates a place, object or historical scene that is not a surviving documentary photograph.

Not every routine image requires a label.

The appropriate question is whether the absence of a label could reasonably cause the audience to misunderstand the evidential nature or origin of the image.

Metadata and captions

Where practical, Roberts London may use:

• Captions.
• Alt text.
• Image metadata.
• Article disclosures.
• Credits.

to provide relevant context.

Alt text exists primarily to communicate the meaningful content and function of an image to people who cannot see it. It should not be overloaded with technical disclosure solely for compliance purposes where that disclosure belongs more naturally in a caption or surrounding text.

Social media

The same principles apply when Roberts London imagery appears on:

• Instagram.
• Facebook.
• X.
• YouTube.
• Pinterest.
• Other social platforms.

A created photorealistic image should not become documentary merely because it is posted without the accompanying website context.

Where the distinction is material, an appropriate caption or disclosure should travel with the image.

Corrections to imagery

Roberts London welcomes concerns about images that may be:

• Miscaptioned.
• Misidentified.
• Misleadingly altered.
• Presented in the wrong context.
• Incorrectly attributed.
• Used without an appropriate right.
• Insufficiently identified as created imagery.

Where a material problem is established, Roberts London may:

• Correct the caption.
• Add a disclosure.
• Replace the image.
• Restore the original context.
• Amend related text.
• Remove the image.
• Publish a correction where appropriate.

Read Corrections & Complaints →

Questions or concerns

Questions concerning photography, created imagery, artificial intelligence or image rights may be sent to:

Email: info@roberts-and-co.com

Post:

Barry Roberts
Roberts & Co
PO Box 458
1 Croydon Road
Beckenham
Kent BR3 9FN
United Kingdom

Please identify the relevant image, article, film or page and explain the concern as clearly as possible.

Status of this policy

This policy describes the standards Roberts London applies to imagery and the use of artificial intelligence across its editorial, media and retail activities.

Technology, law and accepted publishing practice continue to develop.

Roberts London may therefore revise this policy as its use of technology develops or where new legal, editorial or ethical considerations arise.

The guiding principles will remain:

Do not fabricate evidence.
Do not disguise commercial or created material as independent documentary fact.
Do not surrender human editorial responsibility.
Use technology in the service of better work, not less trustworthy work.

Related information

• Trust & Information
• Publisher Information
• Editorial Standards
• Reviews & Recommendations
• Commercial Relationships
• Corrections & Complaints
• Privacy Notice
• Website Terms of Use

Last reviewed: 18 July 2026