Photographs as Information

A photograph can tell a powerful story without any words. Photos are used in newspapers, books, and online to share information. They can show you what a place looks like, record an important event, or make you feel an emotion. Learning to read photographs is an important media skill.

What Photos Can Tell Us

Photos show details that words sometimes cannot capture. A photo of a neighborhood after a storm shows the damage in a powerful way. A photo from long ago shows how people dressed and lived. Photos of faraway places let you see things you might never visit in person.

Thinking Critically About Photos

Not every photo tells the whole story. A photographer chooses what to include and what to leave out. Photos can be cropped or edited to change their meaning. Ask yourself who took this photo and why. Think about what might be happening outside the edge of the picture.

Fun Facts

• The first photograph ever taken was in 1826 in France and took eight hours to expose.
• Photojournalists travel the world to capture important events on camera.
• The most viewed photograph in history is the default Windows XP wallpaper called Bliss.

Did You Know?

A famous saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words, meaning one photo can share as much information as a long description.