  Photographs convey the stories of photographers to the audience. However,
this story-telling aspect of photography is easily distracted by visual
clutter. Informed by a pilot study, we identified the kinds of clutter that
amateurs frequently include in their photos. We were thus inspired to develop
DeclutterCam, a photographic assistant system that incorporates novel user
interactions and AI algorithms for photographic decluttering. Clutter elements
are detected by an aesthetic quality evaluation algorithm and are highlighted
so that users can interactively identify distracting elements. A GAN-based
iterative clutter removal tool enables users to test their photographic ideas
in real-time. User studies with 32 photography beginners demonstrate that our
system provides flexible interfaces, accurate algorithms, and immediate
feedback that allow users to avoid clutter and explore more photographic ideas.
Evaluations by photography experts show that users can take higher-quality
photos that better convey the intended story using our system.
