Rephotograph

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The technique entails capturing a new version of a previously taken photograph as a way to reinterpret or reproduce the original image
2. Creating a new image by photographing a previously taken picture, often for preservation or reinterpretation
3. Producing a fresh photographic copy by capturing an existing photo with a camera

Etymology: Rephotograph is a straightforward formation: the prefix "re-", meaning "again" or "back", attached to "photograph." The base word is built from Greek roots. "Phōs" (light) combines with "-graphos" (writing or drawing), so a photograph is literally "light-writing," an image made by light acting on a sensitive surface. The Greek element "phōto-" passed into English as a combining form, which is why so many modern words, from photocopy to photosynthesis, share it. "Re-" comes down through Old French and Latin, where it carried the sense of repetition or return. Attached to "photograph," it describes making a new photograph of something already photographed, whether to copy the original, restore it, or reinterpret it with a different framing, lighting, or purpose.

Synonyms: take another picture, reshoot, photograph again, recapture