Meaning & use
photocall
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableBritish
A brief, organized event at which a celebrity or public figure poses for press photographers.
Grammar: Countable: attend a photocall, hold a photocall.
Patterns
- a photocall for something
- pose at a photocall
The cast posed at a photocall before the premiere.
The prime minister's photocall lasted just ten minutes.
Reporters gathered outside the hotel for a morning photocall.
Word forms
| plural | photocalls |
|---|
Common combinations
- hold a photocall
- The festival will hold a photocall on the red carpet.
- attend a photocall
- Both teams attended a photocall with the trophy.
- pose for a photocall
- They posed for a photocall in front of the castle.
- morning photocall
- The morning photocall was moved indoors because of rain.
- staged photocall
- Critics called it a staged photocall.
Synonyms and how they differ
- photo opportunity
- Photo opportunity is the common phrase in both varieties and can describe any chance for pictures.
- photo op
- Photo op is the informal short form and often suggests publicity stunt.
- press call
- Press call is broader, as it may include interviews as well as photographs.
Word family
- photo noun
- short for photograph
- photographer noun
- a person who takes photographs
- call noun
- here, a scheduled gathering
- paparazzi noun
- photographers who follow celebrities
Commonly confused: photocall or photo shoot?
photocall vs photo shoot
A photo shoot is a longer, planned session by one photographer, while a photocall is a short gathering of many press photographers.
Practice
Dozens of press photographers waited at the ______ to get a quick picture of the actors on the steps.
Choose one answer.
A brief staged event for press photographers is a photocall. An interview involves questions, not pictures.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “photocall”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.