Photography, also known as visual storytelling or image-making, is the art and practice of planning and projecting ideas and experiences with light, shadow, and visual composition. The form of the communication can be physical or virtual, and may include still images, motion, or sequential frames.

Photography that’s meant to be experienced in an instant is the easiest to recognize and has been around the longest. For over a hundred and eighty years, photographers have arranged light, subject, and perspective in portraits, landscapes, photojournalism, advertising campaigns, and other printed or digital media, as well as in documentary series and editorial features for newspapers and magazines.

It can also be for any purpose, whether commercial, educational, cultural, or political.