1. A method for reducing crosstalk, the method comprising: establishing active connections between input ports and output ports of a photonic switching fabric, wherein the photonic switching fabric is composed of a plurality of photonic elements, and wherein establishing the active connections comprises activating photonic elements in the plurality of photonic elements that are positioned along connection paths of the active connections; and suppressing crosstalk in the photonic switching fabric by activating at least some unused photonic elements in the plurality of photonic elements, wherein the unused photonic elements are excluded from the connection paths of the active connections.