Prompt: "trace the origin of this picture" -untracked?

As soon as A. I. started getting mainstream I try to get something plausible, not as a faker but an average belief gizmo to share.

Then ask for "red clouds", I receive a lot of clouds. Yes, an average and a good look and feel. 

then, resize it. Later (today) try to look up if Gemini can find the original source. 

Start the quotation: 

Forensic Investigation into the Visual Provenance and Cultural Genesis of the "Red Cloud" Cloudscape: A Multi-Vector Analysis of Digital, Atmospheric, and Artistic Origins

The systematic identification of the origin of a specific visual artifact—particularly one as conceptually evocative yet visually ubiquitous as a "red cloud" formation—demands a multi-disciplinary approach that spans atmospheric physics, digital forensic metadata, artistic history, and the mechanics of modern digital distribution. The image in question, characterized by its deep crimson hue, billowy and textured cloud architecture, and a stark, dark background, represents a confluence of several distinct possible origins: a catastrophic atmospheric event, a professional photographic composition, a digital painting by a specific contemporary artist, or a culturally significant iconographic symbol. This report provides an exhaustive investigation into these vectors, tracing the provenance of the imagery through a comprehensive review of environmental data, technological profiles, and artistic catalogs.

Atmospheric Foundations: The Physical Genesis of the Crimson Horizon

To understand the origin of any "red cloud" photograph, one must first establish the physical conditions under which such a phenomenon is naturally possible. The presence of red clouds in the atmosphere is not merely an aesthetic occurrence but a diagnostic indicator of specific particle-light interactions. The most fundamental mechanism is Rayleigh scattering, which describes the scattering of light by particles much smaller than the wavelength of the light, typically gas molecules in the atmosphere. However, for the intense, billowy, and opaque red clouds seen in the target image, a more complex mechanism known as Mie scattering is required.

Mie scattering occurs when the atmospheric particles are of a similar size to the wavelength of the light itself. This is typically observed in the presence of water droplets, dust, or, most significantly, smoke and ash from volcanic or pyrogenic events. During these events, the larger particles in the air scatter the shorter blue and green wavelengths of sunlight with extreme efficiency, allowing only the longest red and orange wavelengths to penetrate the thick haze and illuminate the undersides of cloud formations.   

Table 1: Comparative Atmospheric Mechanisms and Visual Outputs

Mechanism	Particle Size	Primary Light Interaction	Resulting Visual Texture	Common Triggers
Rayleigh Scattering	Smaller than $\lambda$	Predominant blue scattering	Deep blue sky, orange horizons	Standard sunset/sunrise
Mie Scattering	Approximately equal to $\lambda$	Wavelength-independent	White or grey clouds, hazy sky	Fog, light clouds, mist
Selective Absorption	Varies	Filtering of specific spectra	Deep monochromatic red/orange	Wildfire smoke, volcanic ash
Volcanic Afterglow	Stratospheric aerosols	Long-duration spectral shift	Blood-red twilight (1-2 hours)	Major eruptions (Krakatoa, Pinatubo)

  

A critical historical origin for the "red cloud" aesthetic is the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa. This geological event injected massive quantities of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, which formed a global veil of sulfuric acid aerosols. These aerosols produced vivid, "dramatic red skies" and "billowy" red clouds that were documented worldwide for years following the eruption. The Royal Society’s detailed reports from the late nineteenth century describe a phenomenon where the increase of light after ordinary twilight was "very marked," with the tone of the sky shifting from a fiery orange to a deep, final crimson. This historical event established the "red sky" as a symbol of global catastrophe and sublime beauty, a visual trope that persists in modern photography and digital art.   

The 2020 North American Wildfire Event: Environmental Archeology of a Viral Image

A primary candidate for the origin of the specific "red clouds" imagery is the unprecedented wildfire season of September 2020 in the Western United States. During this period, particularly on September 9, 2020, millions of residents in the San Francisco Bay Area and Oregon witnessed a "fire in the sky" that appeared almost identical to highly edited digital art. The atmospheric conditions were so extreme that cameras, particularly those with sophisticated white-balance algorithms like the Nikon D750 or the Panasonic G9, struggled to find any blue light to reference, resulting in images of monochromatic orange and red horizons.   

The Dolan Fire in the Big Sur region and various complexes in Northern California generated massive, billowy pyrocumulus clouds. These clouds are formed by the intense heat of the fire, which triggers a rapid vertical ascent of moisture and smoke, creating "towering storm clouds" that "swirl dramatically against a dark sky". Professional photographers captured these moments, producing images that have since been widely shared as "apocalyptic" or "heavenly" wallpapers.   

The visual signature of the 2020 fires is distinct: it features a thick, orange-red haze that obscures the sun until it appears as a "blood red sun in a smoke-filled sky". The silhouettes of urban infrastructure, such as the Golden Gate Bridge or city skyscrapers, are often the only elements providing a sense of scale against the "burning sky". This specific event provided a massive influx of "red cloud" imagery into the digital ecosystem, much of which was uploaded to open-source platforms like Unsplash and subsequently redistributed without context.   

Table 2: Chronicle of 2020-2021 Wildfire Visual Data Points

Date of Image Publication	Location and Subject	Photographer / Source	Visual Characteristics
August 2020	Chatsworth, San Fernando Valley, CA	Shutterstock / Editorial	Blood red sun, hazy smoke-filled valley
September 9, 2020	San Francisco Bay Area, CA	Dreamstime / Various	Monochromatic orange sky, thick ash, urban silhouettes
September 2020	Big Sur / Monterey, CA	Alamy / Stock	Monterey Cypress against Dolan Fire sky
July 2021	Oregon / Bootleg Fire	Steve Rondeau / Nature Conservancy	Aerial views of red smoke wafting at night

  

The "Bootleg Fire" of 2021 in Oregon further contributed to this visual archive, with aerial photography showing the "aftermath" and "raging red clouds of smoke" that wafted up at night, highlighting the differences in tree mortality and the devastating impact of the blaze. These images are often used in "climate change" and "environmental emergency" narratives, further cementing the red cloud as a modern symbol of ecological crisis.   

Artistic Origins: Kirstie Cohen and the Aesthetic of the Abstract Landscape

While environmental events provide a "real-world" origin, a significant volume of "red cloud" imagery circulating on platforms like Reddit and Pinterest is actually the work of contemporary fine artists. A pivotal figure in this provenance is Kirstie Cohen. Her work, specifically her "Red Clouds" series, is frequently cited in datasets used for training aesthetic diffusion models.   

Cohen's work is characterized by its abstract, oil-on-canvas approach to landscapes, where she focuses on the "liminal otherworldness" of cloud banks and horizons. Her "Red Clouds" painting features the exact "billowy" and "textured" appearance described in the user's query, with a focus on "deep reds" and "dark shadows" that create an "atmospheric and moody" background. Because her work is often shared on subreddits like r/art or r/wallpaper, the digital copies frequently lose their attribution and are renamed with generic titles like "Red Clouds [1920x1080]".   

The origin of these artistic images is often rooted in a desire to capture "sublime" nature, reminiscent of nineteenth-century Romanticism but updated for a digital audience that craves "high-contrast" and "saturated" visuals. Cohen’s work stands as a primary candidate for any "red cloud" image that appears "painterly" or "unnatural" in its perfection, as it is designed to evoke emotion rather than record a specific meteorological event.   

Digital Commons and the Unsplash Photographic Legacy

Another significant origin for the picture is the professional photography community that contributes to open-source libraries. Platforms like Unsplash have become the "default" origin for many images found in the wild. Three photographers stand out for their "red cloud" contributions: Nathan Anderson, Rafael Garcin, and Jeffrey Eisen.

Nathan Anderson and the High-Altitude Perspective

Nathan Anderson’s photography is a major source of "dramatic sky" imagery. His work often utilizes a Nikon D750, a camera prized for its ability to handle high-contrast sunset scenes. Anderson’s "red and blue sky with mountains" (published May 24, 2017) and his "mountain under cloudy sky" (published February 22, 2017) are quintessential examples of how professional equipment can capture "vivid" and "intense" red tones. These photos are taken in high-altitude locations like Silverthorne, Colorado, where the thinner atmosphere allows for a cleaner transmission of red-spectrum light during the golden hour.   

Rafael Garcin and the Stormy Aesthetic

In contrast to Anderson’s serene landscapes, Rafael Garcin focuses on the "moody" and "apocalyptic" potential of clouds. Using Panasonic equipment (DC-G9 and DC-G9M2), Garcin’s images, such as "Fiery red clouds fill the sky at sunset" and "Dramatic red clouds fill the dark sky," are specifically noted for their "stormy," "powerful," and "intense" characteristics. His work is frequently tagged with terms like "horror concept" or "judgment day," suggesting that the origin of his imagery is a deliberate attempt to capture the "unsettling" beauty of nature.   

Jeffrey Eisen and Coastal Tranquility

Jeffrey Eisen provides a coastal origin, with images taken at Praia dos Salgados in Portugal. Using a Nikon D5600, Eisen captures "fiery red clouds" that "streak across a twilight sky". His work emphasizes "serenity," "tranquility," and "natural beauty," offering a more peaceful counterpoint to the wildfire or storm-driven origins of other red cloud images.   

Table 3: Technological Profiles of Professional Cloud Photographers

Photographer	Primary Camera System	Key Visual Attribute	Common Geotag	Source ID
Nathan Anderson	Nikon D750	High dynamic range, mountain peaks	Silverthorne, USA
Rafael Garcin	Panasonic DC-G9 / G9M2	High-contrast textures, moody/stormy	Not specified
Jeffrey Eisen	Nikon D5600	Streaking clouds, evening "afterglow"	Praia dos Salgados, Portugal
Tandem X Visuals	Canon EOS-1D X Mark II	"Epic" scale, saturated pinks/reds	Saskatchewan, Canada

  

The presence of these images in "free to use" libraries means they are the most likely candidates for pictures found in general searches, as they have been repurposed thousands of times for articles, social media posts, and desktop backgrounds.

Commercial Stock Collections: The Taxonomy of "Fire in the Sky"

For images that appear highly "clean" or "designed," the origin is often a commercial stock library such as Shutterstock, iStock, or Dreamstime. These agencies use specific keywords to categorize their imagery, creating a "taxonomy of drama" that helps trace the conceptual origin of a picture.

Commonly used descriptors in these libraries include:

• "Vivid Orange Afterglow:" Describes soft, flowing evening clouds often used in travel or wellness contexts.   

• "Fiery Explosions in Dark Clouds:" Refers to high-contrast, often digitally enhanced images used for "apocalyptic" or "action-oriented" media.   

• "Billowy and Soft Texture:" Points to high-altitude cumulus clouds caught in a "golden hour" gradient.   

• "Unnatural Light and Shadows:" Often indicates images intended for the "horror" or "paranormal" genres.   

A significant sub-genre of commercial "red cloud" imagery originates from the "Fire Wave" photography at the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. Here, the red sandstone of the landscape interacts with the setting sun to create a "liquid fire" effect that is often reflected in the sky, providing a terrestrial-atmospheric origin for some of the most saturated red images in circulation.   

Cultural Iconography: Michael Jackson, the Akatsuki, and Album Art

The "red cloud" is not just a natural or artistic phenomenon; it is a potent cultural symbol. The origin of the user's specific picture may be rooted in its association with iconic media.

Michael Jackson's HIStory (1995)

The artwork for Michael Jackson’s album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I represents a major pop-culture origin for the "statue against red clouds" motif. The creative process for this cover involved significant experimentation. The initial statue, designed by Diana Walczak, was meant to be set against a standard blue sky, but the decision to switch to "dark, red clouds" was made to heighten the sense of "drama" and "monumentality". This choice influenced the visual language of the 1990s, where "crimson storms" and "apocalyptic" clouds became synonymous with high-stakes artistic expression.   

The Akatsuki and Anime Iconography

In contemporary digital culture, the "red cloud" is most famously associated with the "Akatsuki" organization from the anime series Naruto. The group’s signature black cloaks adorned with stylized red clouds have led to a massive secondary market of digital art that blends realistic cloud photography with this specific iconography. Discussion threads on Reddit frequently mention the "red cloud cult" and analyze the significance of this design, which is rooted in the "rain orphans" of the series and symbolizes a "storm of blood". This cultural layer means that many modern "red cloud" images are created as fan art or "aesthetic" tributes to this specific anime motif.   

Table 4: Cultural Origins and Symbolism of Red Cloud Imagery

Cultural Artifact	Era / Context	Key Visual Motif	Underlying Symbolism	Source ID
HIStory Album Art	1995 (Michael Jackson)	Statue against dark red clouds	Monumentalism, power, intensity
Akatsuki (Naruto)	2000s-Present (Anime)	Stylized red cloud on black	"Red cloud cult," blood, rain
70s Sci-Fi Art	1970s (Foss, White, etc.)	Red clouds in space / alien worlds	Liminality, otherworldness
Whole Lotta Red	2020 (Playboi Carti)	Red-saturated aesthetic	Intensity, modern rap culture

  

The 1970s and 80s science fiction art movement also contributed significantly to the "red cloud" origin pool. Artists like Chris Foss and Tim White often painted "giant towers" or "floating cities" among red and orange clouds to evoke a sense of "eerie, liminal otherworldness". These images, often used for book covers or album art (such as Ian Gillan Band's Clear Air Turbulence), established the "red cloud" as a staple of the "fantasy and speculative fiction" world.   

Digital Lifecycle and the Reddit Redistribution Hub

The final step in tracing the origin of the "red clouds" picture is understanding its lifecycle on the internet, particularly on Reddit. Subreddits like r/wallpaper, r/wallpapers, and r/SkyPorn act as massive clearinghouses for these images.   

A common digital "trace" found in these images is the work of "ze-robot," a bot that automatically resizes images for different screen resolutions. When an image is posted to these subreddits, ze-robot generates a list of "Download resized" links, often stripping the original metadata and artist name in the process. For example, a post titled "Red Clouds [1920x1080]" by user Animesh77666 gained significant traction, but the origin was actually an external artist whose link was buried in the comments.   

This process of "digital flattening" makes it difficult for the average user to find the original photographer or artist. An image that started as a 5120x2880 professional shot by a photographer like "Hangmoon" or a digital piece by "Kirstie Cohen" is eventually compressed, cropped, and retitled until its only remaining "origin" is a Reddit post from four years ago.   

Forensic Synthesis: Determining the Final Verdict of Origin

The specific image provided by the user—a billowy, deep red cloud mass against a dark, almost black background—aligns most closely with a subset of digital art and highly edited professional photography.

The "billowy" texture and the extreme saturation of the red against the dark sky are characteristic of the "apocalyptic" style often found in Rafael Garcin’s work or the "abstract landscape" style of Kirstie Cohen. However, the presence of these images in aesthetic datasets suggests that the most likely "origin" for a modern digital copy is the Reddit-to-Wallpaper-Site pipeline, where the image was likely resized and re-captioned by the "ze-robot" bot system.   

If the image possesses a "grainy" or "realistic" texture, its origin is almost certainly the September 2020 California Wildfire event, specifically the "Orange Sky" day captured by thousands of residents and professional photographers in the Bay Area. This event remains the single largest "real-world" source of red cloud imagery in history.   

If the image possesses a "painterly" or "smooth" texture, its origin is likely a digital creation or a high-end commercial stock image intended to evoke the "fire in the sky" or "Akatsuki" aesthetic. The "Akatsuki" clothing design and its "red cloud cult" association have created a massive demand for this specific visual, leading to its widespread creation and sharing in the digital age.   

In conclusion, the "red cloud" is a multifaceted visual entity. Whether its origin is a stratospheric aerosol veil from a volcano, the smoke of a modern wildfire, the brush of an abstract painter, or the icon of a popular anime, it serves as a powerful reminder of our enduring fascination with the "burning sky"—a fascination that has moved from the scientific journals of the nineteenth century to the high-resolution wallpaper subreddits of the twenty-first. Tracing its origin requires navigating this dense web of environmental tragedy, professional skill, and cultural obsession.

End of quote.

Isn't garbage. But everything is going so far away to getting a real route; not even close. Is not something true, but neither a useless stock of lies. Also it is incredible the quantity of sources used to get the report.   

[I hope included here the whole links]


The conclusion is poetic: "Encontraréis humo entre miles de gotitas de minúsculo vapor de lágrimas". That means something like ...When you start looking for a needle in a haystack—take your time, don't rush, and be patient. But make sure you're looking in the right haystack. (Ne misez pas sur le sept quand vous lancez un seul dé).

Remember the Serendipity concept? Well, maybe you can find beauty by accident, I hope you find it with truliness. Truthiritarian means -for me-, realness and trascendentally fullyness of personal meaning. So, yes. Sytetics may come with beauty, even truly beauty. But don't fool yourself thinking that ugliness doesn't have it or the lair cannot hide behind your honestly intentions... 

Don't waste your time! Keep beauty in life! Remain in the truth!