The word "photography" comes from the Greek φώς (phos) "light" + γραφίς (graphis) "stylus", "paintbrush" or γραφή (graphê ) "representation by means of lines" or "drawing", together meaning "drawing with light."

“to photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. It means putting one’s self into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge, and therefore like power” (Sontag, 1977: p 4). Along with the context that a photograph is received in, photography is definitely a subjective form.