photorealism

American  

[foh-toh-ree-uh-liz-uhm] / ˌfoʊ toʊˈri əˌlɪz əm /

Sometimes photo realism

noun

(sometimes initial capital letter)

1. a style of painting flourishing in the 1970s, especially in the U.S., England, and France, and depicting commonplace scenes or ordinary people, with a meticulously detailed realism, flat images, and barely discernible brushwork that suggests and often is based on or incorporates an actual photograph.

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photorealism British  

/ ˌfəʊtəʊˈrɪəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. a style of painting and sculpture that depicts esp commonplace urban images with meticulously accurate detail

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Other Word Forms

• photorealist
  noun
• photorealistic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of photorealism

First recorded in 1960–65; photo- + realism

Example Sentences

But graphics in many different games have been getting noticeably more sophisticated, arguably approaching what's known as "photorealism" - indistinguishable from photos or videos of the real world.

From BBC • Jun. 1, 2023

The aesthetics, no matter the chosen style, seemed anime-inflected, with a dose of photorealism.

From New York Times • Jan. 11, 2023

Mr. Gertsch’s mastery at photorealism also intertwined with a photojournalist’s sensibility of storytelling.

From Washington Post • Dec. 23, 2022

Louis Draper, a founding member of the collective, gained acclaim for his photorealism but also for work like his 1971 portrait of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer for Essence.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 17, 2022

On the plus side, Linda was smart to go deliberately abstract here, shunning the attempted photorealism of her peers for something with a little more artistic licence.

From The Guardian • Sep. 23, 2020