Describing pictures and photos

Describing photos and pictures

General introduction

The picture shows a busy street in the city center.

In this picture I can see a group of people sitting around a table, having a meal.

There is an unusual-looking building in the photo.

Giving details about the location, situation, event, people, etc.

In the foreground, there is an elderly woman wearing a strange hat.

There are two young men in the middle of the picture.

On the right there is a row of bicycles.

There is a group of people in the background.

The people in the picture are three teenagers and a middle-aged woman.

The people in the picture look happy/seem sad.

She looks as if she is enjoying herself.

The general atmosphere in the picture is depressing/ friendly.

The picture arouses curiosity/compassion/ a feeling of deep regret.

Making guesses and speculating about the situation

It may be a school gym.

The boy may be older than he looks.

These two people could be relatives.

Perhaps, they are close friends or group mates.

It is probably their first day at school.

He’s probably from a European country. It might be Germany.

Another idea is that they may be discussing a very important matter.

It is also possible that they are waiting for some important news.

I get the impression that the people are not very happy here.

They don’t seem to be celebrating something.

The photo reminds me of a childhood memory.

Using vague language

He’s wearing a kind of uniform.

This might be a compass or something like that.

He looks like a nice sort of person.

Well, it’s a sort of skirt. ( kilt)

Expressing your opinion

In my opinion,..

It seems to me that…

It’s quite obvious that…

On the one hand,.../ On the other hand,…

The situation in the picture is unusual, because…

I don’t think that this situation is very common, because…

I wouldn’t feel comfortable in this situation.

Personally, I’d prefer…

I’d rather…

Comparing and contrasting

Both photos show…

In both photos the people are…

One similarity is that…

What both these photos have in common is…

However, there are also some differences between the pictures.

The picture on the left is more… than the other one.

The people in the first picture are less … than the people in the other one.

This man looks …while the other one is rather…

The main difference is (that)…

Another important difference is that…