Describe a Photograph That Is Important to You: IELTS Cue Card with Sample Answer

The photograph that matters most to me is a picture of my grandfather, my cousin Amir and me, standing in front of a treehouse we’d just finished building.

It shows the three of us in my grandparents’ garden. In the background you can see a huge walnut tree with a slightly crooked wooden treehouse in its branches. My grandfather is standing in the middle with his arms around our shoulders, wearing his old work shirt, and Amir and I are on either side, both covered in sawdust and grinning, with a few teeth missing. It’s not a great photo technically. It’s a bit blurry and the colours have faded, but that doesn’t matter at all.

It was taken the summer I was nine. My grandmother took it with an old camera on the evening we finished the treehouse, which had taken us about three weeks of hard work.

I’ve kept it for a few reasons. For years it was in a drawer at my parents’ house, but when my grandfather passed away, I asked for it and had it put in a frame. It now sits on my desk, and when I moved abroad to study, I took a small copy to keep in my wallet.

It’s important to me because it captures a moment of very simple happiness. There were no phones and no special occasion; just three people who were proud of something they’d built together. It’s also one of the last photos of the three of us, as my grandfather became ill a few years later. Whenever I’m stressed or homesick, I look at it and remember how good it felt to make something with my own hands.

Useful language:in the backgroundslightly crookedcovered in sawdust and grinningnot great technicallythe colours have fadedhad it put in a framecaptures a moment

Mainly because it’s free and easy. Everyone has a good camera in their phone, so there’s no cost to taking hundreds of photos. Social media also encourages people to record and share everything, from meals to holidays. Sometimes I think people are more focused on photographing a moment than actually enjoying it.

Useful language:record and shareenjoying the moment

In a way, yes. Printed photos are physical objects you can hold, frame and pass down, and because there are fewer of them, each one feels more special. Digital photos are convenient, but they often get lost among thousands of others on a phone or in the cloud. I think it’s worth printing the most important ones.

Useful language:pass downget lost among thousands

Generally yes, in public places, but people should be respectful. There’s a difference between a street scene and deliberately photographing a stranger close up, especially a child, and posting it online. I think you should ask permission when someone is the main subject of the photo.

Useful language:respectfulask permission

Photos help us remember details we would otherwise forget, but they can also change our memories. Sometimes we remember the photo rather than the actual event. And because we take so many, we rarely look back at them, which may mean fewer memories are really treasured.

Useful language:change our memoriestreasured