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1 - Picture Description Oxford

This document provides guidance on describing pictures in 3 sentences or less by focusing on the object, action, and context. Sample descriptions of various pictures are also included that follow the suggested structure of object-action-context and utilize descriptive vocabulary.

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Lissa Jackson
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5K views

1 - Picture Description Oxford

This document provides guidance on describing pictures in 3 sentences or less by focusing on the object, action, and context. Sample descriptions of various pictures are also included that follow the suggested structure of object-action-context and utilize descriptive vocabulary.

Uploaded by

Lissa Jackson
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Writing Ex.

1
Picture Description

By Yahya Soliman
Image description
object-action-context.
• Object is the main focus.
• Action describes what’s happening / what the object is doing.
• Context describes the surrounding environment.

Who is doing what?


1. Say what they are doing (present progressive!)
2. Describe the age
3. Describe clothes, hairstlye, facial expressions,.....
4. Describe the people in the picture
5. You say what is happening just now. Use the Present Progressive.
Describing pictures ( Useful Vocab.)
Starters
• The photo/picture shows ...
• It was taken by/in ...
• It's a black-and-white/coloured photo.
• "The central focus of the picture is...„
• It seems as if ...
1. The lady/man/person/... seems to ...
2. Maybe ... / I think .../ ... might be a symbol of ...
3. The atmosphere is peaceful/depressing ...
4. I (don't) like the picture because .../ It makes me think of ...
Describing pictures ( Useful Vocab.)
What I think about the
• What is where?
picture
• In the foreground/background you
• It seems as if ...
can see/there is ...
• The lady seems to ...
• In the middle/centre there are ...
• Maybe ...
• At the top/At the bottom there is ...
• I think ...
• On the left/right there are ...
• ... might be a symbol of ...
• Behind/In front of ... you can see ...
• The atmosphere is
peaceful/depressing ... • Between ... there is ...
• I (don't) like the picture because ...
• It makes me think of ...
Useful phrases
5. Try to answer many questions:
• What kind of place is it? 1. The place is like a / looks like a ...
• Why are the people there? 2. The people are probably there to ...
• What do the objects/ landscape tell you? 3. The (object/landscape) tells me that ...
• What had happened earlier? 4. ... probably happened before the picture.
• What will (maybe) happen later? 5... will probably happen after the picture.
Descriptive words

• Shapes Cylindrical, curved, rounded, square, cubed, rectangular, flat, straight, circular,
spherical, triangular, conical, pyramidal, angular, irregular, jagged, sloped, diagonal,
horizontal and vertical.

• Size Large, tall, monumental, thick, thin, narrow, wide, life-size, small, tiny, short,
miniature, true to size, large scale and small scale.
•
• Texture Smooth, glossy, coarse, grainy, rough, worn, weathered, scratched, cracked,
broken, rippled, grooved, patterned, striped, dotted and perforated.

• Colour Vivid, bright, intense, light, dark, muted, dull, pale, faint, solid or blended.
• It is best to avoid jargon or specialized terminology that may be unfamiliar

• Age Infant; toddler; young boy/girl; teenage boy/girl; young, middle-aged, eldery
woman/man
• Describe From General to Specific
Description Tips
• Easily understood according to logical sequence

• Various portions of the picture can be detailed, in some type of orderly fashion.

• Explain the foreground, mid-ground, and background.

• Provide directions from the perspective of the viewer looking at the picture.

- Describe Objectively and Accurately/ Don't Describe Motivations or


Intentions.
-Be objective as descriptions of pictures should be straightforward and factual.

-Avoid interpretations or emotional responses.


Ex.1

Ex. 1 The place looks like a cowboy range. The cowboy is probably there to win the race
against the other cowboys. The horses produce a lot of dust and that tells they are racing
really quickly. The start of the race probably happened before the picture. The horse
will probably throw the cowboy off of his horse later.
Ex. 2 It seems as if the horse of the first cowboy does not like to race because it is trying
to throw the cowboy off. I donot like this picutre because I think that it is cruel to race
animals. Maybe the cowboys could also use cars instead.
Ex. 3 The cowboy is racing with his horse. Right now, his horse is jumping.The cowboy is
probably middle-aged. He is wearing a cowboy-hat, a shirt, jeans and riding-boots. His
horse is black. You cannot see the cowboy's face. The other cowboy is also riding his
horse, but he is not riding as fast as the cowboy in the middle of the picture
Ex.2

The little girl is wearing headphones, like the ones my dad had when I
was about 6 years old. I remember he used to use them to play the
electric key board without bothering my mom. When I wore those
headphones some of the black plastic would come off and get stuck
on my ears and face. They were huge headphones...not like the ones
you can buy today...
Ex.5

This photo shows a short brick wall, the bricks look new because they are clean, but they
are scratched. The bricks are red with white colours. Next to the wall on the left, there is a
fence, the same like the one on the right side. The fence is made of wire and wood. There are
goats that are running and jumping over the wall. The first goat to finish has some kind of toy
attached to him, and I imagine it is a toy giraffe. Other goats behind the first one has some
kind of toys attached to them too. Judging by the situation, I think it is a goat race, yet I
imagine it is really fun. On the ground we can see green grass. In the background there are
green trees or bushes. Judging by the trees it is summer or early autumn, and it seems to be a
sunny day.
Ex.6

• This is a photo of four teenagers watching a film. All of them


are smiling. I imagine they are watching a comedy. Judging by
their emotions the photo was made at funny part of the film. It
looks like they are enjoying the movie. The boy is wearing
jeans and light blue t-shirt. A girl next to him is wearing jeans
and a purple top. The girl in the middle is wearing a purple top
too, but a pink t-shirt. The girl in the right side is wearing light
blue jeans and light red top. I guess they are wearing shoes for
specific reason.
Ex.7

• This photo shows two players fighting for a ball in a football match in the
foreground. In the background, I imagine, are another two footballers running for
the ball too. I can see lights in the back all around the area, and because of that, the
shadows of them are very long. The fans in the stadium are shouting for a goal.
From the face mimic, I can guess that these footballers are really angry and are
trying to get the ball really hard. I can understand that they are going for a goal.
Guessing by the clothes, this is “Liverpool” playing versus “Chelsea”.
Ex.8

• This photo shows a monkey on the rope, in the jungle. In the foreground,
we can see a black, orange and brown monkey. I imagine that it is going to
the tree house because the monkey is walking on the rope. This monkey is
so cute, maybe because monkeys are one of my favourite animals! In the
background we can see a lot of leaves. Judging by the trees, it is summer or
spring. I think behind the monkey there are more of them because it`s
jungle. If you get a closer look, you can see that there are lots of ropes, so
maybe it is like a maze. I do not think it is high because I can see a tree,
which is falling down, and I can see the ground.
Ex.9

• In this photo I see many people. Judging by their smiles, I


guess they are happy and having fun. They are playing beach
volleyball, perhaps, they are on vacation. In the horizon, I see
light blue sea or maybe an ocean. Judging by the sunglasses and
bikinis the day is very sunny and hot. On the left of this photo,
I see a ship or a fishing platform. People are playing on the
beach and the sand looks so warm and beautiful like in San
Francisco.

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