Storage iPad is full

Since (ipad)OS 17 both my iPhone and iPad are extremely full with iOS and system data. So full that I can’t update either of them without removing everything. I have a 32 Gb and 64 Gb device. 15! Gb is used for these basics.

I did a complete reset to factory settings on the iPad and gained a few Gb’s, but now my Photos app is 12 Gb! without me doing a thing. Before it was 4 Gb. And my iCloud settings are set to optimise. I really fail to understand what happened here. So this got me nowhere, as my storage is again too full.

Does Apple really want me to buy a newer and larger iPad and Phone?

How can I get the Photos app to become smaller?