Wiktionary
n. (context media English) a photograph that is representative of the subject being discussed, or may have been taken prior to a current news incident.
Usage examples of "file photo".
The shot was so poorly focused I was unsure if it had been snapped at the Vipers' clubhouse, or if it was an old file photo taken at another site.
I'd placed another picture of Danny Padgitt as he was led into the courthouse next to the file photo.
An old file photo of herself was positioned next to a long-range shot of Nick walking out the front door of Chastain's Palace.
He took a file photo, simply removed the beard, thinned the hair, combed it a la Julius Caesar, and substituted a breastplate for the blazer.
She had felt a shiver of fear the first time she had looked at the short MI6 biography of him on the back of his file photo.
Her file photo showed me a blowzy blonde with big Jersey hair, lots of makeup and a slim frame.
Seated at his desk at the far end of the spacious room, only Enrique Quiros didn't altogether conform to expectations, appearing even younger and more spruced than his file photo suggested.
He made himself look away, scanning the lobby for someone who was glancing at them too often or who looked like the file photo of Ed Heller that Factoid had sent as a .
He made himself look away, scanning the lobby for someone who was glancing at them too often or who looked like the file photo of Ed Heller that Factoid had sent as a jpeg.
His file photo showed a full-faced man with jet black hair, a beard, and dead eyes.