photography
/fəˈtɒɡ.ɹə.fi/
photography means the art and technology of producing images on photosensitive surfaces, and its digital counterpart. It carries an Arena rating of 1622, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, photography ranks #3,935 of 17,052 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #5,336 of 17,052 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #6,404 of 17,052 for Most Ingenious Words, #7,311 of 17,052 for Most Elegant Words.
photography is pronounced /fəˈtɒɡ.ɹə.fi/.
Why “photography” is a great word
The art or practice of creating durable images by the action of light, coined in 1839 by Sir John Herschel from the Greek roots phōs/phōt- ("light") and -graphia ("writing" or "drawing"), literally meaning "drawing with light." Unlike painting, which involves the manual application of pigment, or cinematography, which concerns itself with moving pictures, photography is the still capture of a fleeting luminous trace. It is the silver halide crystal darkening under the sun's gaze, the shadow of a cathedral arrested in gelatin, and the precise moment a wave breaks against black volcanic sand—each a testament to light's brief, indifferent passage, and our stubborn, mechanical insistence on keeping what we cannot hold.
noun
- The art and technology of producing images on photosensitive surfaces, and its digital counterpart.e.g.“go on a photography course”
- The occupation of taking (and often printing) photographs.
Words closest in meaning
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