Can This Image Be Trusted? Watch Bruce Lee in the age of deepfakes

Can This Image Be Trusted? is a curated visual reader exploring how Al-generated images and deepfakes are changing the relationship between viewing and trusting images. As synthetic media becomes increasingly widespread, the problem of visual trust is no longer limited to false images being mistaken for real ones; authentic images themselves are also increasingly becoming objects of suspicion. Distrust is therefore entering everyday viewing and influencing how people interpret and judge images.
From May to August 2026, I continuously observed and collected videos of martial arts star Bruce Lee circulating on social media, while also recording related comments and visual material. As these videos circulated, i repeatedly saw viewers question whether the footage was authentic, altered or Al-generated, directing their attention towards details such as hand movements, broken bricks and other small elements within the frame. Visual information that originally served the experience of watching a performance gradually became evidence used to judge the credibility of the image. Through collage, digitai typesetting and hand drawing, this publication records and presents this changing mode of viewing, and was printed in Riso in London.