Picture

A picture is a visual representation of a person, place, thing, or scene. It can be a two-dimensional depiction created by drawing, painting, photography, printing, or digital means. Pictures convey information, ideas, or emotions and are used across art, journalism, science, and everyday communication.

Etymology: The term comes from Middle English pictur, from Old French picture, from Latin pictura, from pingere, to paint.

Types include paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, and digital images. Pictures can be static or moving (as in film or animation). They can be reproduced in books, newspapers, screens, and online.

Early pictures were cave paintings and petroglyphs. In classical and medieval periods, iconography and frescoes. The Renaissance introduced perspective. Photography, introduced in the 19th century, allowed images to be captured optically and reproduced widely.

Digital pictures are stored as raster formats (JPEG, PNG, GIF) or vector formats (SVG, EPS). Resolution, color depth, and color space (sRGB, Adobe RGB) affect appearance. Metadata, compression, and licensing govern use.

Pictures support documentation, education, art, media, and advertising. They can influence perception, convey complex information quickly, and cross language barriers.

Copyright protects pictures as original works. Use may be restricted by licenses, fair use, or permissions. For photography, consent and privacy concerns can apply when depicting people.

In common usage, the word picture may also denote mental images or imagination.