photography

noun

pho·​tog·​ra·​phy fə-ˈtä-grə-fē 

: the art or process of producing images by the action of radiant energy and especially light on a sensitive surface (such as film or an optical sensor)

Examples of photography in a Sentence

He studied both film and still photography.

Landscape photography is her hobby.

Recent Examples on the Web

What’s hard to find among the 30,000 books written about the wars in Vietnam are Vietnamese perspectives, and in the books that illuminate the photography and journalism of those wars the presence of the Vietnamese is even harder to find. —Literary Hub, 19 Dec. 2025

Caleb Grieger grew up in Seattle and became interested in photography after taking a film photography class in high school. —Caleb Grieger, Arkansas Online, 19 Dec. 2025

For the most part, the resource library is centered on Japanese ephemera, more focused on design than fashion — there are books on typography, photography, textiles, and ceramics along with architecture magazines, museum-exhibition catalogues, and advertising manuals. —Emma Orlow, Curbed, 19 Dec. 2025

Using a combination of textiles, found materials, and digital photography, from family photos to contemporary shots of the Everglades, Eusebio weaves a narrative fabric that manifests her identity as both a child of immigrants and a native Floridian. —Douglas Markowitz, Miami Herald, 19 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing photography

• director of photography
• Kirlian photography
• trick photography

Rhymes for photography

• arthrography
• biography
• cartography
• cosmography
• cryptography
• demography
• discography
• echography
• ethnography
• filmography
• geography
• hydrography

Kids Definition

photography

noun

pho·​tog·​ra·​phy fə-ˈtäg-rə-fē 

: the art or process of making pictures by means of a camera that directs the image of an object onto a surface (as film) that is sensitive to light