Photography, since its inception, has transformed from a simple tool for portraitmaking into a powerful medium of cultural documentation, artistic expression, and historical preservation. Beyond its aesthetic qualities, photography serves as a visual chronicle that reflects the social, political, and cultural realities of different eras. It captures the transformations of fashion, architecture, traditions, and collective memory, while simultaneously contributing to the construction of national identity. Through the works of war photographers such as Robert Capa and James Nachtwey, and ethnographic documentation of endangered cultures, photography emerges as both an archive of human experience and an active participant in shaping public consciousness. This paper explores the multifaceted role of photography as a mirror of culture and identity, a document of social change, and a witness to both triumphs and tragedies of history. Drawing on global case studies as well as the Georgian context, the research highlights photography’s ability to bridge the past and present, ensuring that traditions, rituals, and historical events are preserved for future generations. Ultimately, photography is positioned not merely as a technological invention, but as a cultural and historical phenomenon that records time, defines identities, and informs the future.