Speaking
IELTS speaking photography questions come up often in Part 1 and they are more useful than they look, because almost every one of them is really a question about memory or preference. That means the same three or four structures answer all of them, and none of the answers require you to know anything about cameras.
Examiner: Do you take many photographs?
Candidate: Yes, a lot.
A complete answer to the question and no use at all. The first improvement is to qualify it, which is almost always available.
Candidate: Yes, although not in any serious way — just on my phone.
Better. The word although is doing real work there. The third stage adds a reason and a contrast, which is where a Part 1 answer should end.
Candidate: Yes, although not in any serious way — just on my phone, and mostly of places rather than people. What I actually like about it is that a photograph brings back the small details I would otherwise lose completely, the weather or what somebody was wearing. I take far more when I am travelling than in an ordinary week, which probably says something about how much attention I pay the rest of the time.
snap, capture, take a shot of, get a picture of, pose, an album, a selfie, the background
scenery, a landscape, a close-up, a candid shot, blurred, well-composed, striking, ordinary
bring back, remind me of, look back on, keep a record of, a keepsake, take me straight back to
I slightly prefer…, having said that…, not in any serious way, more so when…, less interested in…
The third group is the one worth learning properly. Photography questions in Part 1 are almost always answered through memory, so brings back and reminds me of will appear in nearly every answer you give on this topic.
Record yourself, then open the model and look for the moves you did not make, rather than the words you did not use.
Yes, though not in any serious way — only on my phone, and mostly of places rather than people. What I like about it is that a photograph brings back the small details I would otherwise forget entirely, like the weather or where we ate. I take far more when I am travelling than in an ordinary week, which is probably about how much attention I pay to things the rest of the time.
I do, particularly ones I had forgotten existed. A single photo can take you straight back to a whole afternoon, which I find slightly strange when the photo itself is of nothing much. What I do not enjoy is scrolling through hundreds at once, because after about twenty they stop meaning anything and it just becomes a task.
Visually I prefer places, especially landscapes, because they are relaxing to look at even when I have no connection to them at all. Photographs of people work differently — they are only interesting if I know the person, but then they matter far more. So I suppose I would say places to look at and people to keep.
Almost entirely when something is out of the ordinary: travelling, a birthday, somebody visiting. In a normal week I might take nothing for days. I have friends who photograph every meal they eat, and I understand the impulse, but I would never keep it up. For me it is tied to occasions rather than to habit.
The discussion usually widens from photographs to technology, memory and social media. Each of these wants an opinion with a reason rather than a description of your own habits.
Has the fact that everyone has a camera changed how we experience events?
Do you think people share too much of their lives online?
Is a photograph a reliable record of what happened?
Why do some people prefer printed photographs to digital ones?
Record yourself whenever you practise. Nearly every phone will do it. Listening back is the only way to notice the words you repeat and the places where your voice goes flat, and both of those are being scored.
Quick question, 10 seconds
Where do you want to study or move to?
When are you planning to go?
How far along are you?
Want free IELTS practice sent to you?
Optional. Leave it blank and your answers are still counted.
Thanks. That helps.
Back to your practice.