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Typically, the authorship of a work of art is indicated with the genitive case: «роман Толстого». The subject of a photograph is also indicated with the genitive, however: «фотография Толстого». You can probably see where I'm going with this:

How do I indicate the photographer who took a photo, distinguishing it from a photo of that photographer? I'm inclined to insert the preposition «у» (e.g., «фото у Дмитрия Зверева»), but I'm not at all confident in that idea.

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  • «фото у Дмитрия Зверева» means either "the photo is located at home of Dmitry Zverev" or "the photo was taken at home of Dmitry Zverev"
    – Anixx
    Nov 30, 2019 at 18:57

3 Answers 3

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It very much depends on where you want to put that phrase:

  • If it's a signature on the photo, just the name (in the nominative case) is enough: https://www.artlebedev.ru/kovodstvo/sections/169/

  • A credit / acknowledgement usually reads "Фото Дмитрия Зверева" or "Фото: Дмитрий Зверев" or "Автор фото - Дмитрий Зверев" or "Фотограф - Дмитрий Зверев".

  • Mid-sentence, you may want to say something like "На фото, сделанном Дмитрием Зверевым, изображен Дмитрий Зайцев".

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  • The mid-sentence example is pretty much what I was looking for. Thanks for the clarity.
    – spoko
    Nov 29, 2019 at 16:00
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I wouldn't recommend to use "у" preposition, because the meaning of "фото у Дмитрия Зверева" is actually "the photo is now at Dmitry's place".

For me, the most suitable phrase will be "фотография, сделанная Дмитрием", so the listener can distinguish the meanings.

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If we can see the photo in question, like in a book or on a web site, and it has a label, then the convention for the label is like this: фото[графия] + {name in Gen.} means the author of the photo, На фото[графии]: {name in Nom.} means the person shown in the photo.

If we cannot see the photo, like it is a description in a book, then it all depends on context. If we know that Sergey is a photographer, then Мне очень нравятся фотографии Сергея would imply 'the photos taken by Sergey'. If the police are looking for John and they ask his friend, "У вас есть фотографии Джона?", then it is clear they need photos with John's face. If the context is ambiguous, it is better to clarify it, saying фото, сделанные/снятые Сергеем if Sergey is the author, and фото Сергея otherwise.

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