put someone in the picture, to

COMMON If you put someone in the picture, you tell them about a situation which they need to know about. I believe that I could now produce evidence to prove my case, if you are prepared to listen. I brought you here for that reason, to put you in the picture. Has Inspector Fayard put you in the picture? Note: If you keep someone in the picture, you keep them aware of what is happening in a situation. If he promised to keep her in the picture, maybe she could tell him where she'd got her information? Compare with in the picture.

To inform someone; to include someone as an active participant. To be in the picture has meant to be involved in a particular situation since about 1900. “I feel that I am in the picture, when I wear black during Lent,” wrote Clara Morris (Stage Confidences, 1902).