Fashion Photography

Fashion photography is a genre of photography where clothing is advertised on models. It is most frequently done for fashion magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair. Famous fashion models include Victoria Beckham and Naomi Campbell. Famous fashion photographers include David Bailey and Sir Cecil Beaton.

When is an image a portrait and when is it a fashion photograph?

Portraits and fashion photographs are actually very similar but also very different. With both, the photographer may position you and also tell you where to look etc. however, there is one main objective of a portrait, depicting the person into a photograph. Expressing their feelings from a still. You need to be able to look at the portrait and attempt to decipher what kind of person they are, how they feel. A group portrait, e.g. one of  a family can have a story to it. You can see from the photo who is in charge of the family, who is a naughty child etc.

With a fashion photograph, the main objective is to show the clothing in the best way possible. The model has to work the items they are modelling. The photographer isn't especially looking for a story from the model although they will be asked to act out a certain feeling. E.g. if a child is modelling clothing then they will be expected to be happy whereas if someone is modelling army gear then you will expect a disciplined expression from the model.

Portraits are very much about the person. It's about placing who they are into a photograph or painting.
Fashion photographs are all about what the model is wearing in the photograph. About clothes, colours, culture.

Is there a clash between the creative and commercial side of fashion photography?

Sometimes, when a photographer is given an assignment to do a fashion photo-shoot for a magazine or a brand, they may be asked to be creative with their work. Instead of placing someone on a beach and taking photographs of them with the sea in the background, they may put them on a specifically designed set. A set with props and features such as animals, furniture or bright and wacky colours.

However, there is a fine line between being creative and being too creative with your work.

The picture below was taken for Vogue magazine. However the image was rejected by the top fashion magazine as it was too creative. In a fashion photograph, the only thing that is important is the items being modelled. However, in this photograph, the attention is taken away from the models and what they are wearing and instead, the person viewing the picture will be looking at the props such as the dogs and not as much at the models.

The chances of selling an item from promoting it through photography will increase if the photographer can create an effect where when someone sees the image, the item jumps out at the person viewing the image. However with this photo, the creativeness of the set is the only thing that jumps out to the viewer.