Fashion Photography

Intro- Fashion Photography is now one of the most creative and inspired of all the commercial photography genres. If you need inspiration grab the top fashion magazines. They hold the key to the coolest fashion trends, and are the springboard for the newest, hottest, most inspiring fashion photographers.

Slide 2- Definition: the art or practice of taking photographs of models wearing clothes or clothing accessories, especially for fashion magazines.

Slide 3- Successful fashion photographers have realized their grand positions in the fashion community because they have infused the commercial aspects of fashion with a new, often profound, personal artistic style that separates them from the hordes of photographers who haven’t yet grasped the concept that fashion without art equals mediocrity.

Looking back at the icons and trendsetters of fashion, these “commercial artists” were very aware that in order to carry on at that level they must continue to dazzle the editors and art directors with consistently creative new work and ideas.

Slide 4- Magazine Photography- There are two types of magazine photography to work toward are editorial and advertorial. An editorial shoot is on behalf of the magazine, whereas an advertorial is paid for by a single advertiser.

Slide 6- FREE REINAn editorial is a photographic story about clothing or beauty that is styled and shot in a way that expresses the opinion and attitudes of the fashion and beauty editor of the magazine. The fashion editor can spend days putting together a varied collection of top designers’ clothing, along with accessories, shoes, and other goodies that will provide interest and keep the thread and continuity of the story. The editorial will revolve around the type of garment the editor wants to illustrate, for example, evening wear, daywear, casual wear, etc. Because the designers and clothing manufactures used for these editorials don’t pay toward the costs of production, the magazine has free rein over how the story is told. Editorial fashion photographers have the most creative freedom of all photographers.

Slide 7- SPECIFIC PROMOTIONAdvertorial photography is the magazine promotion of a specific fashion product paid for by the advertiser, perhaps a fashion designer, perfume manufacturer, or beauty treatment, and made to look like an editorial through the combined creativity of the magazine and photographer. To the eye, an advertorial appears to be an editorial, but as the product is really an advertisement for only one company, the magazine is compelled to print the term “advertorial” somewhere on the spread, so that the reader isn’t given the impression that the story represents the opinions and attitudes of the magazine. While still considered very creative work for a photographer, the advertiser sometimes puts limits on how far the photographer can take his/her creativity, because the advertiser is paying for the privilege.

Slide 8- Advertising PhotographyFashion advertising is the financial backbone of the fashion industry, covering many diverse applications and keeping top fashion photographers forever in their Gucci slippers and Cartier watches.

Name some categories that would use fashion photographers to advertise their diverse products…meaning what items do you normally see advertised?

Clothing Shoes Accessories for men and women, children Jewelry, perfumes, skin, healthcare treatments Hair care products, spas, resorts, travel.

Slide 9- THE BIG BOOKSCatalog Photography cuts an enormous slice of the advertising market and is the “bread and butter” of a typical fashion photographer. Sometimes referred to as the big books”, catalogs can have anywhere from 100 to 1,000 pages, and because they sell seasonal items they are produced two or more times every year. Catalogs pay well, and one assignment can take between one to four weeks, paid by the day.

Slide 10 – BESPOKE SHOWCASESBrochures differ from catalogs in two ways: they are more specific with regard to product ranges, and they are more concise, typically from four to forty pages. Photographers used for fashion brochure work often have a more editorial look and feel to their work than catalog photographers, and are compensated more for it. Fashion brochures are more stylized than catalogs and more money is spent on each production to bolster the looks presented.

Slide 11- POINT OF SALE: AT THE STOREMany clothing and department stores have photographs of their lines hanging in their windows and displayed inside the store, known as point of sale. The bigger and more prestigious the shop, the more it spends on the photographic production of this type of advertising. Point of sale is important to the image of the store and promotion of its products, so a highly day rate is usually generated for the photographer.

Slide 12- IMAGE BOOSTINGPublic relations, or PR, is the practice of establishing, maintaining, or improving a favorable relationship between an institution, or person, and the public. To a fashion photographer, PR firms can be a steady source of income. There are hundreds of fashion PR agencies worldwide that specialize in promoting their designer clientele and who need photographers to cover things as varied as fashion shows and brochures, newspaper articles, and celebrities wearing certain garments or diamond necklaces to openings.

Slide 13- INTERNATIONAL PRINTThere are always fashion products to sell, so you will find fashion advertising in virtually every publication you purchase. Fashion advertising is one of the highest paid of all available to photographers. Promoting high-flyer designer labels such as Calvin Klein, Versace, or Armani is considered prestige production, and the photographs will appear internationally. The big labels require the finest and most creative of photographers to push the fantasy buttons of the public and the compensation is admirable.

Slide 14- ON THE STREETVery often the fashion and beauty images used for publications are also used for giant billboards, and shine from backlit bus shelters around the world. They cover the sides and back of buses and cabs. Sometimes images are produced solely for gargantuan displays like those in Time Square in New York or Piccadilly Circus in London. Needless to say, the payout to the photographer is colossal as well, and exposure of that magnitude can only help seal the future and success of any image-maker.

Slide 15- AssignmentToday you will play the role of the editor and create a Free Rein editorial piece. Make a collage featuring your favorite clothes and accessories. It can be high fashion, evening wear, prom, casual wear, etc.