A photograph is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now created using a smartphone or camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of what the human eye would see. The process and practice of creating such images is called photography.
The earliest known surviving product of Nicéphore Niépce's heliography process, 1825. It is an ink on paper print and reproduces a 17th-century Flemish engraving showing a man leading a horse.
A modern-day photograph of an Icelandic landscape, captured on a personal camera
The Market Square of Helsinki, in the 1890s
Long-exposure photograph of the Very Large Telescope
An image is a visual representation. An image can be two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be displayed through other media, including a projection on a surface, activation of electronic signals, or digital displays; they can also be reproduced through mechanical means, such as photography, printmaking, or photocopying. Images can also be animated through digital or physical processes.
A synthetic-aperture radar image acquired by the SIR-C/X-SAR radar on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour shows the Teide volcano. The city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is visible as the purple and white area on the lower right edge of the island. Lava flows at the summit crater appear in shades of green and brown, while vegetation zones appear as areas of purple, green, and yellow on the volcano's flanks.
2D image
