[Unstagram] What Was Outside the Photo?

Thoughts on AI Entering Photoshop

With the integration of generative AI features into Adobe's Photoshop, the most widely used photo program by photographers and enthusiasts worldwide, a new wave of reactions has emerged. Although it is still in the beta (v24.7.0) version, the inclusion of AI functions in Photoshop represents a different level of change. For photographers, this means that AI has become part of their everyday routine. Selecting a part of a photo and inserting or removing something within it has become very easy and natural?right inside Photoshop. You just need to type what you want to add (currently only in English). Generative image technology is no longer surprising, given the flood of technologies and use cases that have emerged since the release of ChatGPT and Midjourney late last year.

Among Photoshop's new features, the one I pay special attention to is the ‘blank space.’ This refers to the ‘generate’ command issued without entering any word in the command input box. With this silent command, Photoshop instantly fills the area with a plausible image that blends with the surroundings. Sometimes the result is awkward, but in some cases, it is exquisitely realistic. I expanded the canvas size of an old photo using Photoshop to create margins on all sides, selected those margins, and executed Photoshop’s ‘generative fill.’ The command was ‘blank space.’ The result is as shown in the photo.

Torino, Italy, 2006 ⓒHuh Younghan

I used the Canvas Size feature in Photoshop to create a margin around the photo and filled the margin using the Generative Fill feature. It easily gave the photo a look as if it were taken with a medium-format camera. It is neither an "uncrop" nor a "zoom out."

The generative AI image program Midjourney version 5.2 has introduced a new ‘zoom out’ feature. In photography or video shooting, this commonly used function refers to gradually widening the field of view from a zoomed-in image taken with a zoom lens to capture a wider and more distant scene. The name itself is nothing special. However, instead of expanding the field of view to the outside captured by the lens, it fills the outside of the photo or image with parts that were not originally there, making it appear as if those parts existed but were not captured. Attaching an existing term to a new technology that mimics existing techniques shows their confidence. Unlike Photoshop, the original image itself is also artificially created. It creates a virtual image outside the photo (or photo-like image), inducing an illusion as if the cropped parts have been restored.

Image with Midjourney's 'Zoom Out' applied (Image source=Petapixel.com)

Another generative image technology program, Stable Diffusion, has a similar feature called ‘uncrop.’ It is the opposite of cropping, which cuts out the edges of a photo, meaning it cancels the cropping. However, this function also expands and creates areas that were never cropped. It creates a virtual surrounding area in the sense of the opposite of cropping, which cuts out parts of a photo taken with a wide-angle lens to emphasize the main subject. It generates peripheral areas as if a photo taken with a telephoto lens was shot with a wide-angle lens. Using the everyday photographic terms ‘zoom out’ and ‘uncrop’ for these functions shows their confidence. Although the results can sometimes be awkward and provoke ridicule, such limitations will be overcome quickly. Should we say that photography has gained infinite expressive possibilities by breaking the limits of appearance while its trust in factuality is threatened? Well, whether that can be called expression is something to think about further.

The surrounding area of the photo was filled using Photoshop's 'Generative Fill' feature. It created a previously nonexistent path, and the newly generated sunflowers on the right look realistically natural. The original photo is shown below.

Seoul, 2013 ⓒ Heo Younghan

But perhaps we have lost the outside of the photo. You might wonder what I mean by that.

The outside of a photo is both the temporal outside and the outside of the rectangular spatial frame. Hidden there was the photographer’s sincerity and the discovery space for discerning viewers. Photographers sometimes hide stories outside the photo to move the hearts of viewers. They conceal what is about to happen or the moment of emptiness after the wind passes without directly stating what it was. Artists give viewers a chance through subtle concealment rather than directness. Discerning viewers pass beyond the inside of the photo to focus on the story outside, finally grasping the photographer’s intention. Now, AI decides that outside as well.

Seoul, 2015 ⓒHuh Younghan

An image expanded using the generative fill feature. It is difficult to distinguish the boundary and authenticity between real and fake.

The blank in 'Generative Fill.' Just press the 'Generate' button, and it does it automatically.

Intro screen of Photoshop version 25.7.0 beta. It features a photo of the Adobe founder and the nickname of the program, "Strawberry Letter."

It is no longer surprising that technology produces new and fascinating results. However, it is somewhat different when AI shows virtual realities that seem more real than the facts of things that might better be left unseen or unmentioned. Most people do not notice or care about these areas, but the human consideration of ‘absence’?hiding, omitting, and giving viewers a chance?seems to have become worthless. Yes, this is not about technology but about expression. Like the lingering resonance left unsaid in poetry or the blank space not depicted in a painting, the outside of a photo sometimes serves to conceal what is meant to be conveyed. Sometimes the truth hides beyond the boundary where showing stops. And it reveals itself very slowly.

Editor's NoteThis is a slowly written story about photography (gram) that is neither instant (insta~) nor unconsidered (un~), reflecting on the relationships before and after photos and the world.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.