UMBC Photography Genres with Definitions

These terms are taken primarily from the Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) of the Getty Research Institute.   It was constructed through the cooperative efforts of the staff of Special Collections and Cataloging.      

Abstract photography [not AAT]
Note: Photography that is not representational and does not include forms that represent objects from the visible world.  In some cases, natural forms might be simplified or changed in their representation, but not entirely eliminated. 

Advertising photography [not AAT]
Note: Photography that presents or calls attention to a product, service, event, or idea for purposes of advertising.

Art photography [not AAT]
Note: Photography where the intent of the creator is perceived or stated to be aesthetic as distinguished from scientific, commercial, or journalistic. 

Astronomical photography
Note: Refers to techniques used to record images of subjects located outside the atmosphere of the Earth and certain phenomena associated with the ionosphere, such as aurorae and meteor showers. For photography taken from beyond the Earth's atmosphere, use "space photography." For photography of the Earth from aircraft in the Earth's atmosphere, use "aerial photography."

Cinematography
Note: The art and science of photographing animate or animated beings or objects in motion, using a motion picture camera. Distinct from "chronophotography," which records motion or change with a series of photographic images shot with a still camera, either discrete photographs taken sequentially or a single exposure capturing movement. as blurred images.

Cityscapes [not AAT]
Note: Refers to creative works that depict settlements that may be considered cities.

Documentary photography
Note: An approach to photography in which the subject is recorded with an emphasis on factual accuracy and with a high degree of objectivity by the photographer; often of a newsworthy event. May be intended to record, and ultimately influence, social conditions. 

Fashion photography
Note: Photography of fashionable apparel and accessories, especially for advertisement. 

Forensic photography
Note: Photography providing evidence that can be admitted in a court of law and that has been produced according to strict technical requirements. 

Industrial photography
Note: Depicts industrial activity and products.  Focus is not on the individual worker but on plant, buildings, and the workforce as a group. 

Landscapes [not AAT]
Note: Creative works that depict outdoor scenes where the picture is dominated by the configuration, visual and aesthetic, of the land, bodies of water, and natural elements.  

Medical photography [not AAT]
Note: Photographs made to document medical conditions, procedures, and equipment.  Subjects might include clinical photographs, surgical procedures, surgical specimens, autopsy and forensic material, tissue slides, bacterial specimens, laboratory preparations, graphic and fine art renditions, medical equipment, and public relations features, as well as illustrations for publications and presentations.

Military photography
Note: Use with regard to military applications of photography, such as for mapping or training. For photography in war for the purposes of historical documentation, use "war photography." 

Nature photography
Note: taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures.  

Photojournalism
Note: The practice of using photographs as a journalistic device; especially serial photographic documentation of significant events intended for publication in magazines and newspapers.  Use for News Photography.

Portraits
Note: Representations of real individuals that are intended to capture a known or supposed likeness.  

Psychic photography
Note: The techniques or the activity of making psychic photographs.

Scientific photography
Note: The activity of producing photographs that document or illustrate scientific phenomena.

Snapshots
Note: Photographs made with simple cameras without artistic pretensions or commercial considerations; beginning especially in 1888 with the appearance of the first roll film box camera. Snapshots thus are often recognizable in that they were processed not by the photographer but by a commercial concern.

Space photography
Note: Refers to the activity of taking of photographs from beyond the Earth's atmosphere. For photography specifically of celestial bodies or astronomical phenomena, use "astronomical photography." For photography of the Earth from aircraft within the Earth's atmosphere, use "aerial photography." 

Spirit photography
Note: The techniques or the activity of making spirit photographs

Still lifes
Note: Photographs of inanimate objects selected and arranged by the photographer for a specific pictorial effect.

Travel photography
Note: An image that expresses the feeling of a time and place, portrays a land, its people, or a culture in its natural state, and has no geographical limitations. 

Videography
Note: The art and process of making video recordings using a video camera. Light reflected from the subject is focused onto a camera tube or sensor whence it is converted into an electronic signal and recorded on magnetic tape or laser-beam disk. 

War photography
Note: Use with regard to photography in war for the purposes of historical documentation. For military applications of photography, such as for mapping or training, use "military photography."  

July 25, 2011 Still lifes added, VS
Oct 28, 2010 Advertising photography added, VS
Feb 2, 2010 Abstract photography added, VS; June 15, 2009  Vicki Sipe