Photojournalism
/ˌfoʊtoʊˈdʒɝnəlɪzəm/noun
The practice of reporting news and events through photographs, often accompanied by written text.
Did you know?The word combines Greek phōs, “light,” with journalism, whose ancestry reaches Latin diurnus, “daily,” revealing a literal idea of making a daily record with light.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bʰeh₂-
“To shine or give light; the ancient root behind Greek words connected with light.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
phōs; phōtos
“Light; the genitive form phōtos became the source of the combining form photo-.”
1830s–1840s
English
photo-
“A combining form meaning “light” or “photographic,” created in modern scientific English from Greek.”
13th Century
Old French
jornal
“A day’s work or a daily account, derived from Latin diurnalis, “daily.””
19th Century
English
journalism
“The activity or profession of producing news for journals and other publications.”
20th Century
English
photojournalism
“News reporting through photographs, especially as newspapers and magazines adopted photography as documentary evidence.”