Embodiments of this application provide a photography guiding method, a device, and a system, relate to the field of terminal technologies, so as to precisely search for a reference picture by using a search word, and accurately guide a user based on the reference picture to perform composition photographing, thereby improving user photographing experience. A specific solution includes: displaying, by a photographing device, a photographing screen; when detecting at least one search word entered by a user on the photographing screen, performing picture retrieval based on the search word, where the at least one search word is used to describe a feature of a to-be-photographed picture; and displaying, on the photographing screen, at least one reference picture in a retrieved picture, where the reference picture is used to guide the user to perform composition photographing. The embodiments of this application are used to guide the user to perform composition photographing.