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Definition of image and imagery, from Thomas Blount's Glossographia Anglicana Nova, 1707.
The top image is captured using photography. The bottom image is rendered. Images are produced by capturing or rendering.

An image (from Latin imago) is an artifact, or has to do with a two-dimensional (a picture), that has a similar appearance to some subject—usually a physical object or a person.

Images may be two-dimensional, such as a photograph, screen display, and as well as a three-dimensional, such as a statue. They may be captured by optical devices—such as cameras, mirrors, lenses, telescopes, microscopes, etc. and natural objects and phenomena, such as the human eye or water surfaces.


A volatile image is one that exists only for a short period of time. This may be a reflection of an object by a mirror, a projection of a camera obscura, or a scene displayed on a cathode ray tube. A fixed image, also called a hard copy, is one that has been recorded on a material object, such as paper or textile by photography or digital processes.

A mental image exists in an individual's mind: something one remembers or imagines. The subject of an image need not be real; it may be an abstract concept, such as a graph, function, or "imaginary" entity. For example, Sigmund Freud claimed to have dreamt purely in aural-images of dialogues. The development of synthetic acoustic technologies and the creation of sound art have led to a consideration of the possibilities of a sound-image made up of irreducible phonic substance beyond linguistic or musicological analysis.

Still image

A still image is a single static image, as distinguished from a moving image (see below). This phrase is used in photography, visual media and the computer industry to emphasize that one is not talking about movies, or in very precise or pedantic technical writing such as a standard.

A film still is a photograph taken on the set of a movie or television program during production, used for promotional purposes.

Moving image

A moving image is typically a movie (film), or video, including digital video. It could also be an animated display such as a zoetrope.

See also

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