Photogenic originates from 2 Greek words, fos (φως) and -genis(-γενής). In Greek the word is φωτογενής (photogenis).
Fos means light and -genis someone that produce or produced by something. For this reason you can say a photogenic melanoma, or photogenic person.
The one means produced by light or the other produces light for this reason looks good in photographs.
Photogenic
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