A photo mosaic is a type of picture that is made up of smaller photographs to form a larger image when you look at the entire picture. Photo mosaics are made up of as many as a thousand images to as few as 20 images, depending on what the finished photograph is. Photo mosaics have been around since the 1970s when Salvador Dali created a photo mosaic of Abraham Lincoln using 252 tiles. The finished photo mosaic is now in a private collection in Tokyo.
When a photo mosaic is created, the image is divided into equal sections where photographs are placed based on color. Different colored photographs are used to represent certain areas of the finished mosaic---if the finished image is of a sky, then pictures containing blue or other appropriate color for the sky is used. Photo mosaics can be made up of black and white, color, grayscale or other types of photographs. Even pages from a book can be used.
Photo mosaics can be displayed on a wall, given as a gift to family and friends, or displayed on the Internet on one's personal blog or website. Photo mosaics can also be found in newspapers and on posters in mainstream society.
Using a computer and photo editing software is the quickest way to create a photo mosaic. There are several software packages available (see the Resources section below for links) that will guide you through the process using your own digital photographs. There are also services on the Internet available for creating mosaics---some let you create and print your photo mosaic for free.
Photo mosaics can also be created by hand, but it is very time consuming and can be difficult. You will need a space to layout the photographs, photographs to include in the mosaic, a large piece of paper and glue or glue sticks.