Photo vs Picture
We come across the words photo and picture so many times in magazines and newspapers that we hardly pay any attention to the difference between photo and picture or the difference between their usage. To most of us, the words are similar in meaning and can be used interchangeably. In fact, the words photo and picture are used in place of each other, and nobody finds anything wrong with the practice. However, is it correct? This article also tries to bring several definitions together so that you can have a clear idea about the difference between photo and picture.
What does Photo mean?
What do you call all the images that are there in an album that you so excitedly desire to show to your friend? Whether you call them Photos or pictures, you are not wrong. This is because there is no hard and fast definition that categorizes some images into photos and others into pictures. However, it is wise to call them as photos, which they are. Here is an interesting definition for the word photo. A photo is “an image of an object, person, scene, etc, in the form of a print or slide recorded by a camera on photosensitive material.”
According to a new school of thought, photos are snaps that require our photographic talent, or knowledge of lighting, setup, subjects, etc. Photographs often convey a message, and have an idea of their own which is absent in most pictures.
What does Picture mean?
A picture can be defined in the following manner. A picture is “a visual representation of something, such as a person or scene, produced on a surface, as in a photograph, painting, etc.” In other words, a picture can be anything from a drawing, to a painting to an etching.There is another school of thought that tries to differentiate between pictures and photos on the basis of effort and artistry put in to produce them. This thinking suggests that all those images that we take with the help of our cameras on vacations, functions, and special moments in life that do not require us to put in any special effort of knowledge of photography (which most of us are lacking) as pictures. If you consider the two terms photo and picture carefully with their definition you will easily understand that picture is an umbrella term under which photo comes. Therefore, photo is just another picture.
What is the difference between Photo and Picture?
• All pictures are not photos as pictures can be anything from a drawing to an etching and a painting, but all photos are pictures.
• Photos are all those snaps that we keep in albums to show to our dear ones and we need photographic talent for taking photos.
• A picture can be anything from a drawing to a painting, to an etching.
• All the images that we take without any knowledge in photography and which do not require our photographic talent are known as pictures.