Identify people in a photo

Question

Look at this quiz. Is it correct to say:

Whose photo is this?

As far as I know there's a difference between

This is a photo of David. (=You can see David in the photo.)

and

This is David's photo. (=The photo belongs to David, but you can see Mike in it.)

So the right question is

Who is this a photo of?

Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

Related (but I don't think it is a duplicate): What this photograph is of: Why does it sound weird? — ColleenV, Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 13:50
Who is this a photo of? is idiomatic and it means "Who is this person in the picture?" — TimR, Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 14:17

P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-22 18:15:11Z

2

Who is this photo of?
Who's in this photo?
This is a photo of whom?

all ask who is in the photo unambiguously.

Whose photo is this?

is ambiguous since it can mean either "to whom does this photo belong" or "who is in the photo".

This is a photo of David.

is unambiguous.

This is David's photo.

is ambiguous since it can mean either the photo belongs to David, or the picture is of David

This is David's photo when he was 3 years old.

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answered Jul 22, 2016 at 16:52

Peter

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