AI 80s Photo Trend Takes Social Media by Storm: Piyush Goyal and Kiren Rijiju Go Retro

Social media is seeing a surge of nostalgia as individuals use AI to picture themselves in the 1980s. Users have transformed common selfies into vintage images that appear to have been taken directly from an old family album or Bollywood studio shot according to the popular photo-editing practice that has gone viral. The ChatGPT 80s photo craze, as it is sometimes called, has now transcended influencers and celebrities. Indian politicians have also joined in, posting AI-generated photos that replicate the decade’s hairstyles, dress, and photographic trends.

Among the politicians who embraced the practice was Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. Sharing an AI-generated image, Goyal captioned it, “Vibing to the 80s trend.”

Goyal may be seen in the photo wearing aviator sunglasses, a white blouse, and a fitted grey suit. With sepia tones, film grain, and a fading texture that mimic an old studio portrait, the image has been given a decidedly retro treatment. Kiren Rijiju, the Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister, followed suit by posting his own retro-inspired photo on X.

He is pictured standing next to an automobile while wearing sunglasses, a blazer, and an open shirt. Rijiju included a light-hearted caption about the unexpected resurgence of nostalgia for the 1980s with the photo. “Why is everyone going back to the 80s vibes? I’m also forced to 80s nostalgia,” he wrote.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma joined the viral trend too, sharing an AI-generated throwback image. He wrote, “Getting to any trend which has nostalgia attached to it. Back to the 80s eh!.”

The idea is not too complicated. Users ask an AI image-generation tool to reconstruct their appearance as if the photo had been taken in the 1980s, rather than just applying a vintage tint to an existing photo.

The AI can be instructed by prompts to maintain a person’s identifiable facial traits while altering their attire, haircut, accessories, posture, environment, and lighting. The final image might be stylised as an antique family photo, a magazine portrait, a Bollywood publicity still, a wedding photo, or a traditional studio photo.

Warm lighting, soft focus, faded hues, analog-style film grain, and vintage studio backdrops are also frequently employed to enhance the photographs’ authenticity. Bollywood in the 1980s, when dramatic stances, ornate costumes, daring hairstyles, and studio shooting were all significant components of popular visual culture, served as an influence for many of the images.