A detection apparatus for detecting a subject in a digital image, including: an input and output interface to which a word for identifying the subject is input; and a processor configured to: receive the word for identifying the subject from the input and output interface; determine an attribute that is specified by the word for identifying the subject, the attribute being at least one of name, color, shape, size, and position; select a method of detection in accordance with the determined attribute; apply the selected method of detection to the digital image to detect the subject in the digital image; and output a result of the detection of the subject so as to cause a prescribed action to be performed with respect to the detected subject in the digital image.