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My photos rarely have people (faces) in them. Is there a term for such photography?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Landscape? Wildlife? Architecture? Abstract? Depends almost entirely on what you are taking photos of. \$\endgroup\$
    – Philip Kendall ♦
    Commented May 9, 2014 at 11:46
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    \$\begingroup\$ I'm looking for a single word for "everything except portraits". \$\endgroup\$
    – kBisla
    Commented May 9, 2014 at 12:14
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    \$\begingroup\$ There isn't a word for photographs that don't have rocks in them, or anything green, or fluffy kittens either. \$\endgroup\$
    – Olin Lathrop
    Commented May 9, 2014 at 12:38
  • \$\begingroup\$ Peopleless photography. \$\endgroup\$
    – codedude
    Commented May 9, 2014 at 13:03
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    \$\begingroup\$ non-Portraiture? \$\endgroup\$
    – Mike
    Commented May 9, 2014 at 14:11

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There is no term for photos that don't involve people. Photos are categorized based on what they are of, not what they are not of. A photo is not of an infinite number of things.

If I take a photo of my wife indoors, it is not of outside, it is not of cats, it is not of nighttime, it is not of waterfalls, it is not of ants, it is not of the future, it is not of a TV, it is not of stars...

Having a term for what photos are not of simply doesn't make sense.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Would love to see your photos that are of the future. :-) \$\endgroup\$
    – AllInOne
    Commented May 9, 2014 at 16:31
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    \$\begingroup\$ I might have a picture of a delorean somewhere... \$\endgroup\$
    – AJ Henderson ♦
    Commented May 9, 2014 at 16:38
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    \$\begingroup\$ @AJHenderson I do actually :) I saw one about 3 weeks ago...or was it tomorrow? \$\endgroup\$
    – laurencemadill
    Commented May 10, 2014 at 10:48
  • \$\begingroup\$ Let's invent a term. How about aportraiture? :-) \$\endgroup\$
    – dgatwood
    Commented Mar 2, 2019 at 0:58
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Portraits are usually posed photographs, however if you are taking photos of people that are not posed in a traditional portrait fashion then you would refer to them as 'candid'.

You would typically call other photography types that do not involve people, something more appropriate.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I would never use "candid", even loosely, to refer to a photograph without people. photography : showing people acting in a natural way because they do not know that they are being photographed merriam-webster.com/dictionary/candid \$\endgroup\$
    – coneslayer
    Commented May 9, 2014 at 15:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ @coneslayer Did I say without people? I said 'could' and 'other', there was nothing specific about that and I also mentioned that you would likely use something more suitable. \$\endgroup\$
    – connersz
    Commented May 9, 2014 at 15:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ Then state clearly what "other areas" of photography you would describe as "candid". Because right now it sounds like you mean areas other than portraiture or unposed photographs of people. \$\endgroup\$
    – coneslayer
    Commented May 9, 2014 at 15:34
  • \$\begingroup\$ OK fine, I have updated the statement. \$\endgroup\$
    – connersz
    Commented May 9, 2014 at 15:47
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From my knowledge, Portrait and Landscape are definitions of picture sizes. Usually portraits are "tall" photos" while Landscape are rotated 90º.

Its definately not about subject since you don't need people to take a portrait or a landscape photo.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Words can have multiple meanings. While "portrait" and "landscape" can refer to the orientation of a photograph, they also refer to subject matter. (Not coincidentally, portraits are most often photographed in portrait orientation, and landscapes are most often photographed in landscape orientation.) \$\endgroup\$
    – coneslayer
    Commented May 10, 2014 at 0:21
  • \$\begingroup\$ portrait: a painting, drawing, or photograph of a person that usually only includes the person's head and shoulders merriam-webster.com/dictionary/portrait \$\endgroup\$
    – coneslayer
    Commented May 10, 2014 at 0:22
  • \$\begingroup\$ landscape: a picture that shows a natural scene of land or the countryside merriam-webster.com/dictionary/landscape \$\endgroup\$
    – coneslayer
    Commented May 10, 2014 at 0:23
  • \$\begingroup\$ portrait and landscapes are definitions of paper orientations, not picture sizes. a portrait of a person, or crowd of people, can often be in landscape orientation. Likewise, a landscape scene looking out across the hills can be taller than it is wide. As a side, what happens if the image composition consists of only sea and is wider than tall? maybe it's a landscape seascape :) \$\endgroup\$
    – laurencemadill
    Commented May 10, 2014 at 10:52

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