Meaning & use
photographer
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A person who takes photographs, especially as a job or serious hobby.
Grammar: A photographer is a countable person noun: a photographer, the photographer, two photographers.
Patterns
- a photographer for a newspaper
- a wedding photographer
- an amateur/professional photographer
The photographer asked everyone to stand closer together.
She works as a photographer for a travel magazine.
My uncle is an amateur photographer who loves taking pictures of birds.
Word forms
| plural | photographers |
|---|
Common combinations
- professional photographer
- They hired a professional photographer for the event.
- wedding photographer
- The wedding photographer captured every important moment.
- press photographer
- A press photographer was waiting outside the courthouse.
- wildlife photographer
- The wildlife photographer spent months in the forest.
- photographer for
- He is a photographer for a national newspaper.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shooter
- Shooter is informal and can refer to a photographer, especially in fashion or sports, but it also means a person who shoots a gun, so it can be confusing.
- cameraman
- Cameraman usually means someone who operates a video or television camera, not still photographs.
Word family
- photograph noun
- A picture made with a camera.
- photography noun
- The art or activity of taking photographs.
- photographic adjective
- Relating to photographs or photography.
Commonly confused: photographer or photography?
photographer vs photography
Photography is the activity or art itself; a photographer is the person who does it. Don't say 'I am a photography'.
Practice
My cousin is a _____; he takes pictures for a sports magazine.
Choose one answer.
The sentence needs a person noun, so 'photographer' is correct. 'Photography' is the activity, 'photographic' is an adjective, and 'photograph' is the picture itself.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “photographer”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.