ChatGPT Photo Editing Challenge: Want retro Kerala style images from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s? Try these five ideas | Today’s news
ChatGPT’s viral retro photo trend has taken another regional turn, with users experimenting with artificially generated images inspired by Kerala and Malayalam culture.
This trend involves turning modern photos into portraits designed to resemble images from earlier decades. Users can specify details such as clothing, hairstyles, jewelry, architecture, lighting, and photo texture to create different vintage looks.
While portraits inspired by the 80s have become particularly popular, the same idea can be adapted to the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, each decade bringing its own visual references.
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For the Kerala-inspired version, the challenges may include elements such as traditional gold jewelry, Kerala-style houses, period-specific clothing and hairstyles, and analog photography characteristics.
A person’s facial features and identity can also be explicitly preserved while changing the surrounding visuals.
5 ChatGPT calls for retro Kerala style photos
- 1960s Kerala family portrait
Call:
Using my uploaded photo as a reference, recreate me as I would appear in a 1965 Kerala family portrait. Preserve my identity, facial structure, skin tone, age and recognizable facial features. Dress me up in period Kerala clothing and style, with authentic traditional details and understated gold jewellery. Set the scene in a humble house in Kerala with period furniture and architecture. Make your photo look like an old studio or family photo from the 1960s with soft natural lighting, muted tones, subtle film grain, slight fading and the texture of an old analog print. Avoid modern objects, clothes, hairstyles and technology.
Call:
Convert my uploaded photo into a realistic Kerala portrait inspired by the mid to late 1970s. Keep my facial identity, facial features, skin tone and age recognizable. Give me a hairstyle, outfit, accessories and jewelery suitable for 1970s Kerala. Place me in a period-appropriate Kerala setting, such as a traditional house or verandah, with furniture and architectural details appropriate to the decade. Use warm analog colors, soft film grain, slightly faded tones, soft focus, and the look of a photo taken with a 1970s film camera. Do not include modern items or contemporary style.
- 1980s Kerala studio photo
Call:
Use my uploaded photo to recreate me as if the photo was taken in Kerala circa 1985. Preserve my identity, facial features, skin tone, age and recognizable appearance. Reimagine my hairstyle, clothing, jewelry and accessories with the unmistakable mid-80s Kerala and Malay style. Use a classic studio portrait composition with a simple, period-appropriate background, warm lighting, direct flash, soft focus, analog film grain, and slightly faded colors. Make it an authentic 80s family photo rather than a modern shot with a retro filter. Remove all modern objects, text and contemporary style.
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- 90s Kerala family album
Call:
Recreate my uploaded photo as a Kerala family album image from 1995. Retain my identity, facial features, skin tone, age and recognizable appearance. Give me a hairstyle, outfit, jewelry and accessories inspired by everyday Kerala fashion of the mid-90s. Place me in a realistic period appropriate Kerala setting at home or outdoors. Recreate the look of a consumer film camera from the 1990s with the slightly warm colors, modest flash, natural imperfections, fine grain and texture of an old print photo. Avoid smart phones, modern buildings, contemporary clothing, digital effects and other elements that would not fit the era.
- Kerala retro family photo across decades
Call:
Create a Kerala family photo inspired by the visual style of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s using my uploaded photo as a reference. Maintain my identity, facial features, skin tone and recognizable appearance. Choose one clearly defined decade and adapt clothing, hairstyle, jewelry, architecture, furniture, lighting and photography style to that period. Include authentic visual details of Kerala without overdoing it. Give your image the look of an old analog photo, including appropriate film grain, color fading, softness, and minor imperfections. Do not include modern objects, text or contemporary visuals.
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How to get better retro Kerala image on ChatGPT
When creating a period-inspired image, the decade should be clearly specified. Simply asking ChatGPT to make a photo “look old” can create a general vintage effect rather than a specific historical aesthetic.
Users can refine their challenges by describing the year or decade, clothing, hairstyle, jewelry, setting, lighting, and photographic characteristics they want.
It can also help to explicitly state which elements should remain unchanged. For example, asking ChatGPT to preserve a person’s identity, facial features, skin tone, and age can help keep an object recognizable while the style and surroundings change.
For a more convincing period-inspired result, modern objects and contemporary style can also be explicitly excluded from the challenge.
