Feature photography is one of three major categories of work captured by working news photographers. The other two major categories are of course news and sport.

There are almost as many definitions of a feature photograph as there are photographers involved in the genre. However, a feature photograph might be described as a news image that supplements the headline stories - one that has no compelling reason to run but which provides further in-depth cover for news or recent-news story.

When an important person or significant event has recently been in the headline news, an editor may decide to run a feature article based upon the background to the original story. A feature photographer might therefore seek to show a particular person at home in their family environment, perhaps talking about their lives and how events led to their appearance in the news headlines. The stories told in this way may not be of particular importance individually, but cumulatively they portray our culture. They may also add a positive side to stories that balances predominantly negative news.