More Inspirational Fashion Images

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NJAL’s Katja Horvat questions whether fashion photography has a future amidst the radical shifts in publishing. How does our current technological milieu fundamentally alter fashion photography as we know it? Is the ubiquity of smartphones, advance in-image editing applications, social media, and the rise of fashion film rendering the canonised medium of fashion photography obsolete?

The evolution of photography over the last two centuries demonstrates the medium’s capacity for vigour and until recently, it’s showed no sign of internal exhaustion. Yet, if we focus on fashion photography today, one could say it’s visibly exhausted in an era of constant technological acceleration. What’s going on right now is the paroxysm of styles, and an array of new publishing formats redefining what was formerly known as photography, to the contemporary realm of “image-making”. Where there is no a priori criterion and where there is no enshrined narrative for fashion imagery, everyone can become a photographer, and with the right resources, a successful one. Yet “success” doesn’t always equate to “skill”.

Now more than ever, our current technological milieu is altering the market, but the majority of buzzy young names in fashion photography will not pass the test of time. Simon Rasmussen, Stylist & Creative Director/Editor in Chief of Office Magazine NYC, says: “Everybody can overnight become a fashion photographer and we see younger and younger photographers shooting editorials and executing look books and such. The successful ones already have a huge following due to their knowledge of how social media works and the power within.” It would seem that though these young photographers might not lack the talent or the creative mindset, it remains increasingly difficult for these photographers to sustain the momentum of their social-media accrued hype for more than a fleeting moment. If these photographers are making work for the immaterial age, and it solely relies on the currency of “likes”, will they have the energy to pursue their practice in the long run?

Hype in the most contemporary sense is a product of social media. Internet based social media has made it possible for one person to communicate with thousands of other people and migrate content to micro-communities aggregated under niche, and organised hashtags. In the context of mass-marketing, social media has reoriented our economy of attention and the entire landscape of traditional advertising and publishing has had to rapidly adapt.

Proenza Schouler’s Jack McCollough, while speaking to BoF Founder Imran Amed even said, “Blogs posting things about us, going viral, spiraling throughout the internet and it has an extraordinary impact on the business.” So, what we are witnessing can be described as a revolution – one that can be felt all around us, even if we are not actively involved in it. It’s dominating all aspects of our world, even the way we use Internet.

Saša Štucin, Co-Founder of Soft Baroque and Editor at Large at POP Magazine, recounts an opinionated post by Matthews Leifheit on Facebook. Leifheit referenced New York Times photography critic Teju Cole in conversation with Geoff Dyer, Ivan Vladislavic and Laura Weller. The conversation addressed Instagram and the impact of mass imagery on social media will have on photography. Leifheit responded to the photographer’s negative response to their contemporary condition and questioned, “If you’re tired of the billions of photographs that the kids are taking, then maybe you’re tired of photography?”

Though Štucin doesn’t wholly agree, she did say that Leifheit’s statement is the “realest thing I’ve heard in response to that conversation.” Štucin does believe that society has to progress in tandem with technology. “This is 2015, and there’s a very rich, intense and incessant output of photography going on around us, and all the time. Photography is not just, you know, black and white stuff made with plate glass cameras by old white dudes,” she says bluntly. Štucin alludes to a distinction between “high” and “low” photography today that seems somewhat ironic, given the historic struggle photography endured to become a rarefied artistic medium in the first place. At its inception, photography was never considered art and firmly sidelined to the realm of science.

Today, the medium of fashion photography is fractured, given the rise of fashion film as the industry’s new medium of choice for both artistic expression and campaign advertising. Yet, there will always be true grit photographers committed to preserving the art of still photography, even when the very notion becomes archaic. There will be photographers invested in the medium’s rampant technological acceleration, as there are photographers committed to preserving by-gone analogue aesthetics and their outdated apparatuses. Today, the large proportion of photographers working inside in fashion, have to be more flexible with their skills and knowledge, as well as aware of the effects, and the social-media applications which will proliferate attention, and once again adapt to new shifts in the industry’s parameters for fashion photography.

Social media democracy, and its inherent accessibility has made the fashion industry, and the consumer as diverse as ever. The fashion industry, largely because of social media is defined only by front-end, consumer-facing innovation. No longer are the rarefied print pages of a niche fashion bible ripe ground for brands to visually communicate with their customers. Today, 91% of all consumer engagement happens on Instagram, and it’s this very application as well as its limitations that have redefined the parameters of traditional photography and presentation. Tech-enabled methodologies deliver different results as we know it, all visual information is pushed, pulled and shared on every media platform there is, and as a result, quality is no longer heralded over quantity. This era of accelerationism churns out content at an aggressive rate, and discourages smarter, and informed decision-making by its very design.

Simon Rasmussen says, “I truly believe that traditional photography is still alive and it’s a part of my job as an Editor for a print magazine to maintain a high level and demonstrate excellent quality of control in all images we put out there.” While Rasmussen is quick to champion emerging talent across all creative disciplines, he also notes the “huge difference between young, self-taught photographers versus an experienced photographer who went through school and assisted for a decade.” The distinct differences separating these creative generations isn’t just quality, but everything from professionalism, technique, aesthetic affinity, and a more general approach.

Perhaps the most glaring difference for Rasmussen is the younger photographer’s propensity for social media, “I hope that younger photographers aren’t just booked for their Instagram clout anymore,” he says. There’s no doubt a social media “clout-score” will be important to some, but Rasmussen explicitly prefers that his young photographer do not even have an Instagram account. “Luckily taste and aesthetics is still something you have to have and cannot just simply copy and repost,” adds Rasmussen.

Do the fundamental changes in fashion photography as a medium reflect the paradigm shifts unfolding in wider society? The context of creativity has drastically changed; it’s no longer simply about the medium or a single artistic discipline but a cross-pollination. Photography can readily align itself with fine art, architecture, politics, just as fashion photography emerged as a distinct medium amongst photography’s wider interdisciplinary engagement. However, what has changed is that the formula of skill, knowledge and process is no longer a criterion for the medium’s success. Instead, its ruled by an immediate currency of reaction, and its ability to capture and harvest data, which in a fashion context—translates into sales.

It’s this unapologetic commercial alignment that’s also driving a younger generation to preserve the archaic process and practice of traditional photography. Though it’s less about conservation for these younger creatives, the tanglible labour, and mosaic processes of physical photography is a bold, artistic statement in the age of immaterialty. It’s about carving out a niche aesthetic and cultural cachet that sets you apart from the Instagram-ready masses. This cross-pollination of process and practice, and by-gone aesthetics with metaphysical modernism is resulting in a hybrid of new aesthetics and anti-aesthetic styles, where traditional techniques and contemporary technological freedoms intermingle. Saša Štucin adds that these contemporary conditions are symptomatic of, “thinking about what photography could be if we forget what we know about photography entireley.”

The metamorphosis of the photographic medium is forgetting its preconceptions without ignoring them. While we can’t necessarily predict what the fashion industry will look like in the future, one thing remains certain, and that’s documentating fashion will become even more intricate and complex in its design and dissemination.

Post on May 2nd, 2017 at 7:07 am

Beautiful Photography

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Post on April 30th, 2017 at 7:08 am

THE ART OF FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY

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Here are some images from my archive of favorite photography.

One Hundred Years of Fashion Photography

Melvin Sokolsky, Simone wears fashion by Venet, River Seine, Paris, American Harper’s Bazaar, March 1963, © Melvin Sokolsky/Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The photographer David Bailey described a fashion photograph simply as ‘a portrait of someone wearing a dress’. The roots of the profession are found in Victorian society portraiture. From as early as the 1840s, debutantes, actresses and dancers posed in their finery for portrait photographers, just as their mothers had sat for the great portrait painters of their day.

Yet Bailey’s own work shows the transformative power of the camera lens. Irving Penn, the photographer with the longest tenure in the history of Vogue magazine, saw his role as ‘selling dreams, not clothes.’ Beyond the simple recording of fabric and surface detail, the most memorable images fulfil or challenge the desires and aspirations of the viewer.

Fashion photography has never existed in a vacuum. Photographers have continually pushed boundaries, and the tension between artistic and commercial demands has generated great creativity and technical innovation. Whether as fashion shoots or advertisements, these images reflect contemporary culture, world events and the dramatic shifts in women’s roles throughout the 20th century.

Cecil Beaton, In the Manner of the Edwardians, Mary Taylor wears Channel, American Vogue, 1935. Museum no. PH.191-1977, © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

A glittering new century

In 1911, at the height of Europe’s golden age of prosperity and elegance, the American photographer Edward Steichen photographed models wearing dresses by the designer Paul Poiret. Thirteen soft-focus images were printed in the magazine Art et Décoration, and Steichen later proclaimed them ‘the first serious fashion photographs ever made.’

In an earlier, pre-photography age, fashion magazines such as Le Costume Français and Journal des Dames et des Modes had included engraved illustrations but had only a limited readership. Advancements in printing processes in the 1890s allowed photographs to be printed on the same page as text, and fashion magazines became more widely available.

In 1909, the publisher Condé Nast bought an American social magazine entitled Vogue. He transformed it into a high-class fashion publication with international aspirations. Swiftly followed by the re-launched Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue sought to capture the spirit and fashions of New York, London and Paris through innovative photography and a growing supply of glamorous models.

Ilse Bing, Salut de Schiaparelli, Perfume Advertisement, 1934, © Estate of Ilse Bing/Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Challenging perceptions

The cultural movement of Surrealism had a profound impact on fashion magazines in the 1920s and ’30s. Paintings by Salvador Dalí and Giorgio de Chirico featured in Vogue alongside avant-garde photographs by Man Ray. Some fashion photographers adopted their revolutionary principles, attempting to give visual expression to the unconscious mind. New techniques and unexpected juxtapositions were used to challenge perceptions of reality, to amuse and to disturb.

Such bold experiments riled Vogue editor Edna Woolman Chase, who wrote angrily to her staff in 1938:

‘Concentrate completely on showing the dress, light it for this purpose and if that can’t be done with art then art be damned. Show the dress.’

As chief photographer of French Vogue, and later of Harper’s Bazaar, Baron George Hoyningen-Huene inspired a generation. His own work reflected a painterly fascination with light, shade and classical forms. His protégé Horst P. Horst produced similarly inventive images, fusing surreal and classical motifs.

Erwin Blumenfeld, Model and Mannequin, American Vogue Cover, 1 November 1945, © Estate of Erwin Blumenfeld/Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Post-war revival

During the Second World War ‘make do and mend’ was the prevailing approach to fashion. As the world gradually recovered from the horrors of war, a fresh cohort of designers emerged. The desire to embrace glamour and femininity after years of wartime austerity found its most extreme expression in Christian Dior’s New Look, launched in 1947, with its nipped-in waists and extravagantly full skirts.

The elegantly sensual vision of photographer Lillian Bassman complemented the new fashions. She pioneered an approach in which evoking a mood took precedence over depicting the details of the clothes. Bassman’s grainy images frustrated Harper’s Bazaar editor Carmel Snow, who warned her in 1949,

‘You are not here to make art, you are here to show the buttons and bows.’

Erwin Blumenfeld also pushed the boundaries of experimental fashion photography. He favoured Kodachrome colour film, which enabled his vivid images to leap from the magazine page.

John French, Skater wears a Digby Morton fur trimmed velvet coat, city gentleman, Michael Bentley in the background, London. Daily Express, 1955, © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Shooting in the city

In the 1950s a fresh dynamism infected the major fashion magazines as photographers adopted a more spontaneous, photojournalistic approach. Models spilled out onto city streets, studio backdrops were replaced by city skylines.

In 1957 Richard Avedon photographed a model striding along the Place François-Premier in Paris for American Harper’s Bazaar. She appears mid-step, her Cardin coat billowing behind her. Both feet are off the ground, as though a gust of wind has lifted her into the air. Avedon titled the photograph In Homage to Munkácsi, a reference to one of the first fashion photographers to work primarily outside the studio. Writing ahead of the trend in his 1935 article Think While You Shoot, Martin Munkácsi advised:

‘Never pose your subjects. Let them move about naturally. All great photographs today are snapshots.’

This new cinematic vision was vigorously promoted by the powerful art directors Alexey Brodovitch at Harper’s Bazaar and Alexander Liberman at Vogue.

Ronald Traeger, Twiggy wears Twiggy Dresses, Battersea Park, London. Unpublished Fashion Study for British Vogue, Young Idea, July 1967, © Estate of Ronald Traeger/Vogue The Condé Nast Publications Ltd/Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Sixties liberation

In the 1960s the feminist movement gathered pace as women campaigned against inequality. In the fashion world, the structured formality of 1950s designs gave way to a more youthful look and the body was liberated from constricting undergarments and corsetry. New designers and photographers emerged, their work showcased in magazines such as Queen (relaunched 1957) and Nova (launched 1965).

Photographer David Bailey was employed to revamp the ‘Young Idea’ section of British Vogue. His vivacious documentary approach, and those of other London-based photographers, turned teenage models such as Jean Shrimpton and Twiggy into international stars, the embodiment of Swinging London. The mood was captured in Michelangelo Antonioni’s film Blowup (1966), in which David Hemmings starred as a character partly based on Bailey.

From 1966 onwards, exotic fabrics, clashing patterns and colours were boldly combined. Penelope Tree’s unconventional looks made her the ideal model for the hippy fashions popular in the latter part of the decade.

Arthur Elgort, Wendy Whitelaw, Park Avenue. Personal picture taken on American Vogue fashion shoot, July 1981, © Arthur Elgort/Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Picturing femininity

In the 1970s photographers increasingly tested the limits of acceptable fashion imagery. They engaged with society’s changing attitudes towards femininity and sexuality, and the potentially controversial themes of religion and violence often informed their work.

These fashion images invited viewers to be voyeurs of highly charged scenes. Helmut Newton’s work brought together themes of emotional ambiguity and sex, capturing confident women in glamorous and contrived settings. Guy Bourdin and Gian Paolo Barbieri created darkly provocative images, which focused less on garments and more on the character of the woman beneath.

The notion of ideal beauty broadened in mainstream magazines with the more regular use of black and androgynous models. The photographers Deborah Turbeville and Sarah Moon were both former models and their engagement with the female form was distinct from that of their male counterparts. Their contemplative images provided female perspectives on the themes of beauty and sexual objectification.

Corinne Day, Woman dancing at a London club, 1992, © The Estate of Corinne Day/Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Capturing real life

In the 1980s, new style publications aimed at both sexes emerged as a counterpoint to the airbrushed perfection of the major glossy magazines. They featured articles on contemporary music, culture and emerging trends. Their pages were populated with figures representing alternative types of beauty, who were often not professional models.

Portraits by Steve Johnson of punks and New Wave youth appeared in i-D magazine. The images became known as ‘straight ups’ as they showed the figure in full. The approach garnered many imitators, keen to capture personal and innovative street fashions.

In the 1990s, the leading exponents of this naturalistic, documentary approach to fashion photography included Corinne Day, David Sims, Craig McDean and Jason Evans. At the heart of their work lay an interest in everyday life and real people, celebrated for all the flaws that make them individual and uniquely beautiful.

Miles Aldridge, Blooming #3, 2007, © Miles Aldridge/Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Fiction and fantasy

Today’s most dazzling fashion images are rich with colourful and poetic narratives. Big budgets, set designers and multiple stylists are employed to create elaborate fantasies. Photographer Miles Aldridge describes the process as akin to making a film:

‘If the world were pretty enough, I’d shoot on location all the time. But the world is just not being designed with aesthetics as a priority. What I’m trying to do is take something from real life and reconstruct it in a cinematic way … condensed emotion, condensed colour, condensed light.’

Just as fashion designers reinvent and recycle the trends of decades past, photographers often look to their forebears for inspiration. Tim Walker conjures a whimsical, technicolour England, inspired by the opulence of Cecil Beaton’s early work and classic children’s fairytales.

For the past century women’s fashions have dominated magazines, but in recent years more publications aimed at male readers have emerged. The V&A is now consciously collecting men’s fashion images to reflect this growing area.

This content was originally written to accompany the display Selling Dreams: One Hundred Years of Fashion Photography, on at the V&A South Kensington 28 March – 4 May 2014

Post on April 30th, 2017 at 5:48 am

PHOTOS FROM MY FOLDER OF INSPIRATION

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Today I took another dive into my folder of inspiration, years of gathering images that have particularly captured my attention.

What is Fashion Photography?

The term “fashion photography” describes a type of fine art photography devoted to the promotion of fashion items such as haute couture clothing, as well as mass-market clothes, shoes, perfume and other branded products designed by fashion houses around the world. Practiced by many of the world’s greatest photographers, “fashion photography” should be seen primarily as a form of visual art, rather than an applied art, since the images created do not serve a utilitarian function. Furthermore, 21st century fashion photos – like mainstream TV commercials – are primarily concerned with the promotion of a brand (that is, a concept), rather than a physical product. (Please see also: Is Photography Art?) Whatever its precise meaning or aesthetics, “fashion photography” is closely linked to contemporary art and popular culture. Not only does it reflect popular attitudes, aspirations, and tastes, it also reflects the views that women have, about their self-image, gender and sexuality. In addition, “fashion photography” is inextricably linked to the media. Emerging initially to satisfy the needs of women’s magazines published by Conde Nast and Hearst, such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar – today augmented by publications like Elle, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, W, Grazia and Seventeen – it now has instant worldwide impact thanks to the digital computer revolution and the Internet. Although New York replaced Paris as the the mecca of fashion photography as far back as the 1940s, Paris and Milan remain important creative centres, while Far Eastern cities in India and China will no doubt emerge as international fashion centres before long.

History of Fashion Photography

The earliest fashion photos were produced in the 1860s, to document the creations of the leading Parisian fashion houses. The idea of employing professional models was thought to be repugnant, so fashion photographers were reliant upon social celebrities, such as Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney or Sarah Bernhardt, to act as models. Even when full-time models were later employed, they were sketched by artists rather than photographed, because couturiers and designers thought that photographs would give away their secrets. It wasn’t until the late 1880s that photographs of models were used and then printed in fashion magazines, following the invention of the halftone printing process by Frederic Eugene Ives (1856–1937). This new print process made it possible to reproduce fashion photographs in mass-circulation journals and market fashion to a mass audience. (See also: 19th Century Photographers.) The two most important fashion magazines (both founded in America) were Harper’s Bazaar (founded by Harper & Brothers, first published 1867, later bought by Hearst) and Vogue (founded by Arthur Turnure, first published 1892, later bought by Conde-Nast). These journals and their expanding readership, together with rapidly advancing American technology in the area of photography and printing, made the United States an important centre in the area of fashion photography.

Paris Culture and Fashion (1880-1930)

But despite America’s technical edge, Paris remained the centre of Western culture, notably in the areas of fine art and printmaking. Indeed with the emergence of major artistic trends like Impressionism (1873-83), Post-Impressionism (1880-1900), Art Nouveau (1890-1914), Fauvism (1905-6) and Cubism (1907-14), Paris was the Mecca for all serious artists involved in painting and sculpture. Berlin was another important centre of avant-garde art and design, thanks to the influence of German Expressionism, as well as the influential Sturm Gallery (1912-32), the later Bauhaus Design School (1919-1933), and the activities of photographers like John Heartfield (1891-1968), Raoul Hausmann (1886-1971), Hannah Hoch (1889-1978), Heinrich Hoffmann (1885-1957) and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946).

It was the same in fashion. All the major trends emanated from Paris and Berlin, and it was these French and German fashion trends that were showcased in Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue. And since most of the major couturiers and fashion houses were located in Paris, it was here that most of the pioneering fashion photography was done. Indeed the first serious fashion photo-shoot was done in Paris in 1911 by the American photographer Edward Steichen (1879-1973), when he photographed a series of gowns made by the couturier Paul Poiret, so as to convey their physical quality as well as their formal appearance. Published in the magazine Art et Decoration, Steichen’s images were seen as the first modern fashion photos ever published. Other French magazines that employed fashion photography during the prewar years included La Mode Practique and La Gazette du Bon Ton, while other early 20th-century Parisian fashion photographers include: the Seeberger brothers – Jules Seeberger (1872-1932), Louis Seeberger (1874-1946) and Henri Seeberger (1876-1956) – Maison Reutlinger, Boissonnas et Taponnier and Henri Manuel.

Note: Modern French fashion photography originated with three Parisian postcard photographers known as the Seeberger brothers (Jules, Louis, Henri), who began taking portrait photos of the upper echelon of French society around 1910 onwards. As these casual portraits of beautiful women, clad in the latest fashions at horse races, holiday resorts and cafes, began to appear in journals and magazines, couturiers such as Chanel, Hermes, and Madeleine Vionnet rushed to send their fashion models to be photographed by the brothers.

Although hit hard by The Great War (1914-18), France retained its position as the centre of art and fashion throughout the 1920s and 30s, thanks to the birth of Surrealism in 1924, as well as the rise of couturiers such as Chanel, Balenciaga, Schiaparelli, and Lanvin, each of whom became known for their distinctive styles. As a result, the city continued to attract top camera artists including Horst P. Horst (1906-99), Man Ray (1890-1976), Cecil Beaton (1904-80), George Hoyningen-Huene (1900-68), Erwin Blumenfeld (1897-1969), Brassai (1899-1984) and Andre Kertesz (1894-1985), as well as the design-genius Alexey Brodovitch (1898-1971).

Note: On both sides of the Atlantic, the emergence of department stores greatly increased the accessibility of women’s fashion. In Paris the leading fashion stores included Le Bon Marche, La Samaritaine, and the Grands Magasins Dufayel, while in America they included Macy’s, McCreary’s, Abraham & Straus, AT Stewart Dry Goods Store (all New York), Marshall Field & Company, Carson Pirie Scott (both Chicago), and Wanamaker’s (Philadelphia).

Fashion Photography in America (1900-1930)

Such activity in Paris did not prevent American fashion photography from progressing also. The country’s growing wealth, the power of Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, as well as its tradition of photographic art – exemplified by the work of Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946), and later Paul Strand (1890-1976), Charles Sheeler (1883-1965), Dorothea Lange (1895-1965) and Walker Evans (1903–1975) – all combined to make New York a hotbed of innovation.

The first notable American fashion photographer was Baron Adolf de Meyer (1868-1946) – best-known for his elegant portraits of celebrities such as Mary Pickford, John Barrymore, Lillian Gish, Ruth St. Denis, Britain’s King George V and Queen Mary – who in 1913 became the first official fashion photographer for the American magazine Vogue, now owned by Conde-Nast. De Meyer was the first to imbue his fashion photos with a sense of “mood”, by bathing his shots in a limpid atmosphere and shimmering light. This refinement opened the way for fashion photography to evoke a wide range of feelings in the viewer, thus abandoning the traditional convention of using fashion photos for illustration purposes only. (For the evocative effects created by early portrait photographers, see the work of Julia Margaret Cameron: 1815-79.)

During the early part of the 20th century, another significant factor in the growth of the American fashion industry (and thus American fashion photography) concerned the rise of the “ready-to-wear” clothes industry, and the contemporaneous development of an independent US style quite unconnected with Parisian fashion. In effect, the American fashion market switched from Parisian couture to individualized ready-to-wear clothing, marketed and promoted through magazines like Women’s Wear Daily (founded 1910), Harper’s Bazaar, and Ladies Home Journal (founded 1883 – and in 1903 became the first American magazine to reach 1 million subscribers).

In 1924, Adolf de Meyer’s ‘soft-focus’ effects were superceded by Steichen’s clean geometric style of photographic modernism, which substituted simple but sleek backdrops for de Meyer’s rococo settings. Like the smooth lines, geometric shapes, and streamlined forms of Art Deco – the hugely influential design movement developed in America – Steichen’s photos showed that US fashion photographers intended to lead Europe, not follow it. The fact that America was the land of European emigrants, liberated from the traditional and old fashioned values of their homelands, was an added advantage. Thus Steichen was able to portray the modern woman in a modern style of clothing that reflected her new-found freedom from the corset – a situation later portrayed by Horst P Horst in his seminal Vogue image, entitled “The Mainbocher Corset” (1939). See also Steichen’s series of photographs of Marion Morehouse, who embodied the archetypal “contemporary” woman, the flapper.

Another important development was engineered by Carmel Snow, editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, who arranged for the Hungarian sports photographer Martin Munkacsi (1896-1963) to shoot some photos for a swimwear spread, out in the open on a windy beach. As Lucile Brokaw, the model, ran towards the camera, Munkacsi photographed her in motion, blurred and hair streaming, and in that instant shattered the convention that fashion photographs could only be taken inside a controlled studio environment. Munkacsi’s spontaneous realism revolutionized the aesthetics of fashion photography, and opened the way for others to follow.

Also important was the invention of Kodachrome a type of colour film introduced by Eastman Kodak in 1935. One of the first camera artists to use colour in fashion photography was Louise Dahl-Wolfe (1895-1989), best-known for her outdoor photo-shoots for Harper’s Bazaar. She was also one of the first to use natural light, and to use exotic locations for her photography.

Surrealist Fashion Photography

Presided over by its chief theorist Andre Breton (1896-1966), the Paris-based Surrealism movement, with its fantastic, dreamlike attributes, had a significant influence on fashion photography. This is best exemplified by the work of Man Ray, the American camera artist who charted an entirely new direction for fashion photography, mostly because he disregarded the conventions and experimented with surreal, expressionistic imagery in his dark room. In effect, his contrived, indoor, pictorialist style of work represented the opposite end of the spectrum to the spontaneity of Munkacsi. Another important pictorialist fashion photographer was Erwin Blumenfeld (1897-1969) who employed numerous techniques including solarization, overprinting, juxtapositioning of colour transparencies, and even chilling wet negatives in the refrigerator in order to achieve his surreal effects. Other camera artists who incorporated surrealist ideas in their photos included the Englishman Peter Rose Pulham (1910-56), the Frenchman Andre Durst (1907-49), the American George Platt Lynes (1907-55), and the inimitable Cecil Beaton.

World War II and 1950s

The advent of war prompted numerous European painters, sculptors and photographers to move to the safety of the United States. The trend began during the 1930s and accelerated from the time of Hitler’s rise to power in Germany, in 1933. Thus, for instance, the designer and photographer Alexey Brodovitch (1898-1971) emigrated from Paris to New York in 1930; Martin Munkacsi did it in 1934; George Hoyningen-Huene moved in 1935; and Erwin Blumenfeld (1897-1969) in 1941.

Fashion in the United States during World War II was a depressing business. Not only was there a serious lack of fashion materials, designers and models, but people had lost interest in clothes in the face of so much tragedy and uncertainty. Fashion was considered a frivolous and unnecessary form of self-indulgence. To reconnect with their readers, fashion magazines profiled women’s role in the war, promoted fashion as morale building, replaced society columns with war reports, and championed tailored but plain uniform-style clothing. Studio photography with its expensive lighting systems and intricate setups disappeared almost entirely. Many photographers (Lee Miller in Paris, Cecil Beaton in London, Louise Dahl-Wolfe in New York) adopted a direct, straightforward style almost like a documentary.

By the end of the war, the global centre of fashion photography had shifted from Paris to New York, where the rivalry between Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue was in full swing. The most important photographers were now Martin Munkacsi, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Irving Penn (1917–2009), Richard Avedon (1923-2004), all of whom would make significant contributions to fashion photography, although Penn and Avedon would dominate the genre for years to come. Like many great modern artists they had the ability to reinvent themselves with almost every decade.

Avedon’s photos were marked by their chic insouciance and boundless vitality. He also had a unique gift for inventive risk-taking and imaginative experimentation, and was a perceptive talent-spotter, always finding the “face” that best captures the “look” of the moment, such as Dorian Leigh, Suzy Parker, Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton, Brooke Shields, and Nastassja Kinski. In contrast, Penn’s photography was all about beauty and form – elements that combined most perfectly in his later series of still life photos. He was the first to use austere grey and white backgrounds, and his studio arrangements were both aesthetic and meticulous. If Avedon’s work can be described as “immediate”, Penn’s is “monumental”. In addition to their fashion work, both men produced outstanding portrait art – see, for instance, Penn’s immortal portrait of Pablo Picasso, or Avedon’s portrait of the model Dovima wearing a Dior dress surrounded by African elephants.

Another major postwar talent was the British camera artist Norman Parkinson (1913-90), who joined Vogue (International) in 1946 and began working for US Vogue in 1949. Parkinson’s “action realist” style and larger-than-life personality helped to transform conventional fashion photography.

In general, one can say that by the mid-1950s, a new fluid and energetic aesthetic had emerged to replace the more static prewar approach. In a sense this was no more than a reflection of the growing confidence shown by both business and consumers as prosperity began to take hold across America. With a rekindled interest in clothes, boosted by the stylish image and outfits of movie-stars, American women began to want more fashion and the magazines duly obliged. In addition to Avedon, Penn and Parkinson, other leading fashion photographers of the 1950s included, William Klein (b.1928) and Lillian Bassman (1917–2012).

Note: Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue competed strongly for the most innovative fashion editors, art directors and designers, many of whom had a huge effect on the development of clothing and other fashion photography, through their influence over their staff photographers and freelance cameramen. The two best examples include: Alexey Brodovitch, art director at Harper’s Bazaar (1934-56); and Mrs. T. Reed Vreeland, fashion editor at Harpers (1936–1962), later editor-in-chief at Vogue.

Fashion Photography in the 1960s

While the 1950s introduced a fresh, adventurous spirit into fashion camera art, the 1960s witnessed a total change. A whole new world of fashion opened up as a result of the 60s cultural revolution. New forms of pop music, pop art, greater leisure time, a more liberal attitude to sex, and of course the sudden “generation gap”, all combined to make fashion intensely relevant for the young – a phenomenon reflected in the emergence of new words like “trendy” and “fashion-conscious”. A widespread urge to be seen as “hip” or “cool” fuelled a demand for new styles, shapes, materials and colours. Other important influences on attitudes to fashion (and thus fashion photography) included the Vietnam War, the NASA Space Program, the women’s liberation movement, and the issue of “race”. Although not 100 percent dominated by youth culture, 60s fashion was redefined by the demands of young people.

This widening demand for fashion, allied to changing social and moral values, had a major impact on fashion photography. The best young photographers – such as the London trio of David Bailey (b.1938), Terence Donovan (1936-96) and Brian Duffy (1933-2010) – enjoyed skyrocketing fees and iconic status; Bailey became almost as famous as the celebrities he photographed. Models, too, like Jean Shrimpton (Bailey’s muse), Twiggy, Lauren Hutton and Veruschka, became household names.

If 1960s fashion photography had any unifying aesthetic, it was “novelty”. Magazines needed new and exciting images in order to compete. David Bailey was bold, direct and undeniably focused; Terence Donovan pioneered the use of stark and gritty urban environments; Yasuhiro Wakabayashi (b.1930), better known as Hiro, used unusual lighting, creative juxtapositions and a unique feel for colour to create a monumental, surreal style; Bob Richardson (1928-2005) put sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll into his photos, as did Art Kane (1925-95) – at 26, the art director for Seventeen Magazine, while Diane Arbus (1923-1971) produced some of the most disturbing children’s fashion images ever published.

For a brief explanation of camera and photographic terms, please see: Art Photography Glossary.

Fashion Photography in the 1970s

During the 1970s, the exotic, hippy styles of the 60s were replaced with more practical apparel. Jeans became “the” signature item of casualwear, and demand for ready-to-wear (pret-a-porter) clothes exploded. Fashion spread from the young to all ages, and this newly-found consumerism propelled fashion into a multi-billion dollar industry, reinforced by slick advertising campaigns and cutting-edge TV commercials.

French Vogue now took the creative lead in fashion photography thanks to camera artists such as Helmut Newton (1920-2004) and Guy Bourdin (1928-91). Newton was best-known for subversive and erotic imagery that somehow maintains an ironic tone, while Bourdin was renowned for his highly artistic, colourful, occasionally surreal images. Deborah Turbeville (1932-2013) was the first to use overweight and unsightly models. All three helped to transform conventional, well-lit fashion-imagery into something much more edgy and offbeat.

Fashion models continued to make it big in the 70s. In 1975, Margaux Hemingway signed the first million-dollar contract as the face of Fabergé’s Babe perfume, while Lauren Hutton appeared on cover of Vogue 25 times(!). Black models also hit the big time, as exemplified by Iman, Donyale Luna, Naomi Sims and Beverly Johnson, who was the first African American model to feature on the cover of American Vogue in 1974. Other top models of the 70s decade included Cybill Shepherd, Patti Hansen, Penelope Tree, Grace Jones and Jerry Hall.

Fashion Photography in the 1980s

While some of the most creative fashion photography of the 1980s continued to be produced by ‘old-timers’ like Richard Avedon – see, for instance, his narrative advertising campaign “The Diors,”or his nude shot of Nastassja Kinski entwined with a snake – younger photographers also emerged into the limelight, including: Herb Ritts (1952-2002), best-known for his iconic shot of “Stephanie, Cindy, Christy, Tatjana, Naomi, Hollywood, 1989” which appeared in Rolling Stone Magazine; Bruce Weber (b.1946) who presented a new outlook on masculinity through his photo-shoots for Armani and Calvin Klein, as did Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-89) with his homoerotic shots; and Gian Paolo Barbieri (b.1938), noted for his work for fashion designers Armani, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Pomellato, and Giuseppe Zanotti. At the same time, women’s independence was emphasized in various settings, by photographers like Denis Piel (b.1944) and Bert Stern (1929-2013).

Controversy, always a handy tool with which to boost flagging commercial fortunes, reared its head as a result of Benetton’s fashion campaign, shot by Oliviero Toscani (b.1942). Images included one of a patient dying of AIDS in front of grieving relatives, while others incorporated references to racism, war, religion and the death penalty.

The leading supermodels of 1980s fashion photography included: Gia Marie Carangi, Ines de la Fressange, Cheryl Tiegs, Christie Brinkley, Paulina Porizkova, Brooke Shields, Heather Locklear, Carol Alt, and Elle Macpherson, among others. It was during this decade that supermodels stopped being seen as individuals and started to be regarded as images, just like movie stars. Witness the celebrity party shots taken by fashion photographer Roxanne Lowit (b.1965) of supermodels like Elle Macpherson, Naomi Campbell and others.

Fashion Photography in the 1990s

Fashion during the 90s turned almost Mannerist, as consumers embraced shabby grunge styles, as well as tattoos and body piercing. Later in the decade there was a revival of certain late 60s/ early 70s styles, although the 1990s retained an edginess all of its own. Long established artists like Irving Penn and Helmut Newton continued to dominate the field, while Ellen von Unwerth (b.1954) introduced viewers to her unique brand of erotic femininity. In addition, Peter Lindberg (b.1944), noted for his monochrome photos, achieved fame with his January 1990 Vogue cover featuring Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Tatjana Patitz. Meanwhile his younger contemporary Steven Meisel (b.1954) was praised for his shots of Madonna in her 1992 book “Sex” and for Vanity Fair. The Peruvian fashion photographer Mario Testino (b.1954) also received attention for his 1997 Vanity Fair cover photos of the late Lady Di, Princess of Wales.

A key photographic trend (dubbed “heroin chic”), perhaps reflecting the gender ambivalence of the age, was the use of pale emaciated androgynous-style models, exemplified by the photo-shoot for Calvin Klein’s “Obsession”, by Mario Sorrenti (b.1971), which featured a waifish Kate Moss.

The 1990s saw the apogee of fashion model-power, as embodied by the photographic superstars cited above – Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Claudia Schiffer and Tatjana Patitz. The Heroin Chic style flared briefly in mid-decade, but petered out with the rise to fame of the Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen, in 1999. The 90s also witnessed the growing use of established celebrities in fashion photo-shoots, as exemplified by Julia Roberts, who became the face of Lancome.

Fashion Photography in the 21st Century

The twenty-first century has already been marked by three things: the 9/11 bombings; globalization and the impoverishment of the Third World; and the economic downturn (2007-2014). This appears to have influenced fashion in numerous ways. Ethical trading practices and green policies are shaping buying policies. Ready-to-wear clothes are now largely manufactured in China. Escapism to mitigate financial and political uncertainties has encouraged a revival of surrealistic or kitsch-style fashion photography, as well as the continued use of celebrities and long established supermodels. Growing disatisfaction with established values in the the wake of worldwide austerity continues to stimulate the use of controversial elements in the design of fashion photoshoots, although not to the extent of Oliviero Toscani’s confrontational 1980s fashion-shoots for Benetton.

With the deaths of Herb Ritts (in 2002), Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Francesco Scavullo (in 2004), and Irving Penn (in 2009), today’s leading fashion photographers include Patrick Demarchelier, Steven Meisel, Mario Testino, Peter Lindbergh, Oliviero Toscani (b.1942), Annie Leibovitz (b.1949), Nick Knight (b.1958) and David LaChapelle (1963). Younger camera artists include Christophe Kutner, Glen Luchford, Craig McDean and Javier Vallhonrat.

Although Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Gisele Bundchen and other ‘established’ models continue to lead the field, the new crop of professional fashion models of the 21st century – as cited in American Vogue (May 2007) – include: Agyness Deyn, Lily Donaldson, Chanel Iman, Doutzen Kroes, Sasha Pivovarova, Hilary Rhoda, Coco Rocha, Jessica Stam, Caroline Trentini and Raquel Zimmermann.

Meantime the leading fashion magazines (aside from Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar) now include Elle (the world’s best selling fashion magazine), Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, W, Vanity Fair, GQ, Grazia, Marie Claire, as well as Dazed and Confused, and Sleaze Nation.

Post on April 27th, 2017 at 10:19 am

GETTING INSPIRED BY AMAZING FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY

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A list of websites that feature the hottest editorials ever published

We all pull inspiration from different sources. For some, it’s books and/or magazines that we go to for visual inspiration. For others, it could be going to a gallery and seeing art hanging on the walls, in person, in all its glory. And yet now, because of the internet, it seems we are finding our inspiration regularly from various websites. In my opinion, some of these sites aren’t so good. On the other hand, though, some sites really stand out!!

So where do I go when I want to look at some truly inspirational work? There are a few sites I signed up for their email updates because they consistently show great work by photographers who’s work I truly admire. Then there are other sites I just check in on every once in awhile when I find the time to surf the web, which truth be told, isn’t that often and getting less and less these days. However, I have to admit, it’s good for me to keep up to date on who’s being published and where. There’s a lot of amazing websites out there but for this list I want to highlight the sites that showcase awesome and beautiful editorials. Not every site on this list features an editorial all the time, but for the most part, they do. And it’s these sites that draw me back repeatedly because of their discerning taste.

Take note: while I think it’s perfectly fine to be inspired with other people’s work, take care to use their work as inspiration and not to copy. Use your own unique way of seeing to execute your own vision. That’s key to developing your eye. And stream lining your style

AND: (no, I’m not done yet) I have this to add as well. I think a lot of young people (young photographers) do this thing I call “compare and despair”. It’s where you go out and shoot what you feel is a fairly good shoot and then race home, jump on the computer and start comparing yourself to photographers who have been shooting for 20, 30, maybe even 40 years more than you have. You then cancel out any good feelings you might have for your own work. Try to look at the following sites for visual aids to help inspire you, not make you feel thwarted, thereby squelching your own natural learning curve.

Lastly, I’d love to know if you have any sites that you guys frequent. It’s always good to hear about what you find inspiring. I’m sure the other readers would love to read about them as well.

The List:

Haute Macabre http://hautemacabre.com/
One of my favorites sites to visit. I’m subscribed to them and I check every email. I might not click through every one but they are at the top of my list because they regularly feature two of my favorite photographers, Javier Valhonrat and Paolo Roversi. Plus, they’re theme leans towards beautiful gothic looks. Which is a big part of my own style, I think. And….well…..they’ve featured me on their site. That’s always a plus.
Cali Kartel http://calikartel.com/
Cali Kartel has consistently great editorials. I haven’t been featured on there, which unnerved me at first since I once LIVED in Cali and I’m FROM Cali. Still, not one to hold a grudge, this site rocks!
Ben Trovato http://bentrovatoblog.com/
A site dedicated to showcasing exclusive fashion editorials by up-and-coming photographers.
Fashion Gone Rogue http://fashiongonerogue.com/
Up to date, current, still on the newsstands fashion editorials delivered right to your monitor! Fabulous site.
The Fashionisto http://thefashionisto.com/
All men’s editorial features. And since I shoot men and love shooting men, I like to see what’s being published out there.
The Contributing Editor http://thecontributingeditor.com/
I fell in love with The Contributing Editor awhile ago. They always feature gorgeous men’s editorials.
Homotography http://homotography.blogspot.com/
The hottest of the men’s editorials.
The Ones 2 Watch http://theones2watch.com/
Because you should be watching the ones to watch. ; )
The Photography Link http://thephotographylink.com/
Their motto says it all: “Because Images are Everything”. I agree.
Fashion Editorials http://fashioneditorials.com/
This aptly named site has exactly what their url promises: Fashion Editorials. While they sort of run the same editorials that Fashion Gone Rogue does, sometimes you’ll find some random spreads that are worth taking a look at.
The House of Editorial http://houseofeditorial.com/
I love this site because they run the editorials that everybody else isn’t running, which is important. The work they feature is just as gorgeous and just as compelling as the “bigger magazine” spreads.
Noir Façade http://noirfacade.livejournal.com/
This is a livejournal site and it’s well thought out. I love most of the stories they feature.
Paper Mode http://papermode.trendland.net/
Great resource for looking up older editorials that are outstanding in every way!

Post on April 26th, 2017 at 7:04 am

SHARING SOME INSPIRATION FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

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Diving into my inspiration files today to pick out some of my favorite images from some of my favorite photographers.

“Fashion photographers are the new painters,” Peter Lindbergh said as he prepared the show of his dramatic black-and-white images that opened last week at the Gagosian Gallery in Paris. Who would have guessed in the heady 1980s — when Mr. Lindbergh’s new, natural images of Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford and others created the supermodel — that the art world would lose its disdain for fashion photography’s commercialism?

Today, fashion photography is art’s rising star, drawing large crowds to exhibitions (which produce much-needed revenue from sponsorships, rentals and even merchandise) and enticing more collectors. Even the fashion industry itself is showing more respect for the form.

Big names are in museum spotlights, from Horst’s classical elegance since Sept. 6 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, to Mario Testino’s “Alta Moda,” Peruvians in local dress, at Dallas Contemporary from Sept. 21.

The Sims Reed Gallery in London, which shows prints, is capitalizing on the trend, too, exhibiting fashion photography for the first time, starting this week with Miles Aldridge’s hyper-real, sensual photos, including the sunbathing woman in “Tan Lines” (12,000 pounds, or about $19,400) alongside his preliminary sketches, lithographs and screen prints. As Lyndsey Ingram, the gallery owner, said, “Showing fashion photographs will set us apart from our competitors.”

Mark McKenna, executive director of the Herb Ritts Foundation, pinpointed the 2008 economic downturn as the catalyst for fashion photography’s emergence.

“People wanted to surround themselves with images of glamour and beauty as things were tough, and fashion photos represented the opposite of what was happening in their day-to-day lives,” he said, noting that there has been a twofold increase in prices for Mr. Ritts’s work since then.

Social media today is giving contemporary fashion photographers a far greater profile than artists, who tend to shy away from public platforms, said Alexander Gilkes, a founder of the online auction house Paddle8. Examples include Steven Klein’s Tumblr account, which displays his archive, most pictures shared and easy contact information, and Nick Knight’s 135,184 Instagram followers.

With the explosion of street-style blogs, Instagram and Pinterest, fashion photography has become the new visual language. “We’re very conscious about what people look like now, so that is how we see photos today,” said Michael Hoppen, whose eponymous gallery in the Chelsea neighborhood of London represents fashion favorites such as Ellen von Unwerth and William Klein, whose work was displayed this summer.

“Many photos not shot as fashion images are now seen as fashion, like Klein’s ‘Mamas and Papas,’ which was a street photo when he shot it,” Mr. Hoppen said. “And we’ve recontextualized the picture as we’ve moved away from the time.” (Mr. Hoppen also manages the estate of Guy Bourdin, whose sensuous, provocative fashion images are to be shown in London from Nov. 27 to March 15.)

At the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, Elizabeth Broun, its director, echoed Mr. Hoppen’s comments, saying, “We are much more accepting of fashion photography because we have moved from high art to an all-embracing visual culture.” The museum has scheduled for October 2015 a major Irving Penn retrospective, which is to include unseen personal work alongside his celebrated fashion images.

The Smithsonian is hoping for big attendance numbers, much like the Museum Bellerive in Zurich did when it chose as its first photography exhibition the touring show “Coming Into Fashion: A Century of Photography at Condé Nast,” which opened in July.

“Models and lifestyle have taken over from film and everybody, including myself, relates to it,” said Jacqueline Greenspan, the museum’s administrative director. As of Sept. 14, 10,345 people had seen the show, the gallery confirmed in an email. It closes Oct. 19.

“It’s not just young people who show up for the first time,” Ms. Greenspan said. “There are a lot of men, which we didn’t expect, as well as a boho crowd, which we’ve never had before.”

Several shows have had the crowds to prove the appeal: Consider the 2012 Ritts exhibit at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, which drew 364,656 visitors, or Mr. Lindbergh’s “Images of Woman and the Unknown” this spring at Gallery HDLU in Zagreb, Croatia. It attracted 11,200 visitors in three weeks, making it, the gallery said, the most popular contemporary art event of the last 10 years in Croatia and neighboring countries.

From an art venue’s standpoint, fashion exhibits also produce new commercial opportunities. For example, the luxury outlet giant Value Retail opened its deep purses for the Victoria and Albert for the first time when its shopping centers in Bicester Village in England and Kildare Village in Ireland sponsored the museum’s Horst exhibit.

Brett Rogers, director of the Photographers’ Gallery in London, said the gallery’s rental for corporate events increased an average of 20 percent when it shows fashion photography like the elegant flappers of Edward Steichen and the edgy, vibrant looks of the Dutch photographer Viviane Sassen, both to debut on Oct. 31.

“Some photography shows are too provocative for corporates,” she said, “but beautiful clothes mean more businesses want to be linked with and entertain in these rooms.”

Fashion photography has also become an increasingly attractive investment.

“I prefer to buy a picture instead of putting my money into the stock exchange because I can see it and there are no taxes if you sell today,” said Guilhem Gravier, a Paris-based collector who paid $5,000 in 2002 for his first photograph — Mr. Ritts’s “El Mirage, Versace Dress, Back View” — which is now valued at $60,000. “I don’t trust the financial market, but I trust the fashion photography market because it’s going upwards steadily.”

Auction prices have soared, with fashion photography regularly topping the tallies thanks to famous names such as Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Mr. Penn and now Mr. Lindbergh. For example, two of the three top lots at Christie’s New York photography sale in April were Penn images: “Woman With Roses on Her Arm (Lisa Fonssagrives),” which sold for $185,000, and a black and white Vogue cover image featuring Jean Patchett, $161,000.

However, such prices are modest in comparison with other art forms. Sotheby’s London, for example, sold three oil studies by Francis Bacon for £26.6 million in late June, while Tracey Emin’s unmade bed went for £2.5 million at Christie’s London in January. So in comparison, Kara Vander Weg of the Gagosian Gallery noted, the more affordable price, even for an Avedon print, is a big entry-level draw for new collectors, who eventually may branch out to more expensive works by contemporary artists.

Scarcity has helped fuel fashion photography’s value. There are no reprints of Mr. Avedon’s work, as stipulated in his will, said Ms. Vander Weg, who represents the photographer’s images on behalf of the Gagosian Gallery. Modern-day photographers are limiting their prints too, with Mr. Aldridge distributing just three per photograph to his New York, London and Amsterdam galleries.

“As the Internet has smashed magazines and the print world into smithereens, we are now seeking other forums,” Mr. Aldridge said. “When I take a picture, I wantto make the print big for my galleries, so I shoot on film; in that way it is to be printed for the gallery rather than a magazine.”

International markets also have been responding to fashion photography’s appeal, which is why Arnaud Adida, founder of the A. Galerie in Paris, said in an email interview that he took only fashion images to display at Photo Shanghai, the city’s first international photography fair, held this month.

Mr. Adida said his stand, which showcased images such as Patrick Demarchelier’s 1994 intimate portrait of Kate Moss and Carla Bruni, proved to be so popular that within a week of the event he had made enough sales to recoup his expenses, and added 25 new and potential clients to his roster.

Fashion photography is also more recognized as a big part of the fashion industry today, said Inez Van Lamsweerde, who, along with Vinoodh Matadin, make up a well-known duo in the field. Their digitally manipulated fashion images are often seen in influential art spaces like the Whitney Museum of American Art and the São Paulo Biennial, in Brazil.

“We translate the designers’ idea into an image that people buy,” Ms. Van Lamsweerde said. “Nowadays this is valued more because of the Internet and the need for attention-grabbing content on the web in our image-saturated culture.”

With fashion institutions financing major cultural events, like Chanel’s sponsorship at the Hyères fashion and photography festival in France, many see photography’s role within art continuing to grow. After all, Mr. Lindbergh said, “art is after fashion’s big bucks.”

Post on April 26th, 2017 at 5:37 am

Spanish Fashion Magazine

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Spanish men’s magazine Hercules Magazine takes a light touch for spring in a new issue with four covers by Amit, Alessio Boni, Thomas Giddings, and Bruce Weber bordered in a gentle pastel pink. Themed around “A New Light,” the magazine offers a considered take on the new season, from Giddings’s cover feature on actor Karl Glusman to Jan Lehner and Mitchell Belk’s moody feature starring Tim Dibble. Boni teams up with Francesco Sourigues for a poetic exploration of rising gender-bending designer Palomo Spain, while Benjamin Vnuk and Gabriella Norberg find a retro appeal to the season’s prints. Amit and Pau Avia’s street cast story brings a classic eye to a cast of striking individuals, and Louis Bauvir loses himself in Serge Leblon and Benoit Martinengo’s story.

Take an exclusive first look at the new issue below.

Marcos del Río | Photographer – Alessio Boni | Stylist – Francesco Sourigues (De Facto)

Photographer – Amit | Stylist – Pau Avia

Photographer – Bruce Weber

Karl Glusman | Photographer – Thomas Giddings (Creative and Partners) | Stylist – David Vivirido

Tim Dibble | Photographer – Jan Lehner (New York: Webber Represents , London: Webber Represents) | Stylist – Mitchell Belk (Bryant Artists)

John Zuanich | Photographer – Bruce Weber

Alton Mason | Photographer – Benjamin Vnuk (New York: ArtList, Stockholm: LUNDLUND, Paris: ArtList Paris) | Stylist – Gabriella Norberg

Luis Toledo | Photographer – Matthieu Lavanchy | Stylist – David Vivirido

Karl Glusman | Photographer – Thomas Giddings (Creative and Partners) | Stylist – David Vivirido

Marcos del Río | Photographer – Alessio Boni | Stylist – Francesco Sourigues (De Facto)

Left: Diego Uceda | Right: Juan Jesus Troyano and Marcos del Río | Photographer – Alessio Boni | Stylist – Francesco Sourigues (De Facto)

Photographer – Amit | Stylist – Pau Avia

Louis Bauvir | Photographer – Serge Leblon (Management + Artists) | Stylist – Benoit Martinengo

Liam Samuels | Photographer – Stas Komarovski (New York: D + V Management, London: D + V Management ) | Stylist – Miguel Enamorado (Style Departments)

Left: Luis Cañete | Right: Elioth Vera | Photographer – Gorka Postigo | Stylist – Nono Vázquez

Left: Luis Mba | Right: Marcos del Río | Photographer – Gorka Postigo | Stylist – Nono Vázquez

Left: Marcos del Río | Right: Oscar Kindelan | Photographer – Gorka Postigo | Stylist – Nono Vázquez

Post on April 25th, 2017 at 7:48 am

Some Ideas for Inspiring Photographers

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Are you struggling for new ideas? Do your creative batteries feel as flat and lifeless as a skunk in the fast lane?

Here are 60 ways to breathe new life into your love of photography and re-energize your inspiration.
[update — we wrote a book “inspired” by this blog post — Inspired Photography: 189 Sources of Inspiration For Better Photos]

1. Play with Photoshop
So much of photography these days happens after the shutter release has been pressed. There’s probably a ton of things that you don’t know how to do in Photoshop. Learn something new and see what that does for your photography potential.

2. Read the Manual
It’s not just Photoshop that can do all sorts of things that you don’t know about. Your camera probably has more settings and functions than you know… or know what to do with. You might find a lot of new ideas in the middle of your camera manual.

3. Watch a Movie
Manuals are all well and good, but movies have cinematographers too. There’s not much you can’t learn about landscape photography by sitting back and watching an old Sergio Leone film.

4. Read a Newspaper
Or you can be a little more intellectual and read a newspaper. The Sunday magazines have the best photos but the work by the staff photographers can be great models for creating striking images for amateurs as well as for photojournalists.

5. Visit a Flea Market
Strange objects mean strange shapes, odd shadows and plenty of potential for unique compositions. And you don’t even have to buy anything.

6. Shop at a Farmer’s Market
You never know what you might find at a flea market. At a farmer’s market, you know you can find colors, spheres, people and displays. And dinner too.

7. Check out Some Wedding Photojournalism
It might not be the sort of thing that your clients expect, but the images on display at the Wedding Photojournalist Association’s website might get you thinking about brides and grooms in a whole new way. Instead of the posing and the tripod, you’ll get to blend into the crowd and document the scene. It’s a whole new skill and it could give your wedding photography a whole new lease of life.

8. Hit the Water
You don’t have to be a scuba diver to shoot underwater images. You just need waterproof housing and access to the sea, a swimming pool or even a pond. And once you’re wet, don’t forget to look up as well as down. Some of the most inspiring images can be taken at the point where the light hits the surface of the water.

9. Hit the Streets
There’s a good reason that street photography is so popular: there are so many good things to shoot there. If you haven’t been photographing roads and crowds, give it a go. And if you have, try a different road.

10. Join a Demonstration
Demonstrations are full of flags, banners, placards and crowds. You can lose people in the mass or pick out expressions in the crowd. The only cause you have to support is photography.

11. Watch a Sports Event
The pros have it easiest at sports events with prime positions and lenses longer than your arm. But you can still try something new at your park on a Saturday afternoon.

12. Visit the Zoo
It might not be as thrilling as a Kenyan safari, but a zoo still has the sort of photographic subjects you can’t find anywhere else. Of course, you don’t have to try to squeeze your lens between the bars. Shooting the kids in awe at the monkeys can create some interesting images too.

13. Shoot Fast at a Race Track

Photography: joel.weismann

Race tracks also give you an opportunity to use a new technique: speed. Fast cars and a faster shutter speed can make for some inspired shooting.

14. Visit an Exhibition
Obvious, really. And yet so often overlooked. Any decent-sized town is likely to have at least one photographic exhibition on at any one time. Take in yours and see what the top photographers did to get on the wall.

15. Browse Google Images
You don’t even have to leave the house to find inspiring images though. Toss keywords into Google Images, admire the good photos that turn up and ask how you would have improved the poor ones.

16. Join Flickr Groups
The pictures in Flickr Groups are great places to see what other people are doing with a theme; the discussions are great places to find out how they did it. And you’ll probably find that the feedback you get on your own photos will give you plenty to think about too.

17. Just Step Back and Watch
For children’s photographers in particular, there can be a temptation to just dive in and get the photos. Sometimes though, lowering the lens, stepping back and watching the subject can reveal whole new sides. That’s true for portrait photographers, wedding photographers, animal photographers… in fact just about any photographer!

18. Roam the World with Flickr Maps
Flickr Maps might be a bit slower than Google Maps, but it comes with Flickr Images built-in. Choose a part of the world with interesting topography and see what photographers have done with it.

19. Change your Angle
Most people shoot an object by placing the lens right in front of it. When David Rubinger lay on the floor to shoot up at paratroopers in front of Jerusalem’s Western Wall during Israel’s Six Day War, he created an iconic image. What would you create?

20. Change your Time
Find yourself shooting at the same time of day each weekend? So break a habit. Discover what the light at dusk, mid-afternoon or early morning can do for your ideas. And it’s not just the light that can make the difference here. Just breaking your routine can often be enough to give you a new perspective and a whole new way photography habit.

21. Browse Stock Sites
You don’t have to be a buyer to check out the images on stock sites. You can be a professional photographer looking for ideas too… especially ideas for commercial images. And the searching is simple. Looking at the top-sellers will give you a good idea of what the market is buying, and browsing by category will show what other photographers are doing with their themes.

22. Write a Blog
Darren Rowse, over at Digital Photography School, mentions how much just writing about photography has helped to improve his picture-taking. It doesn’t matter if no one reads it; just putting your thoughts on the page could give you some new ones.

23. Read a Blog
Of course, reading a photography blog is even more inspiring thing than writing one. Not only can you learn what went into a photo and where the idea came from, you can also discover how to sell it. But then we would say that, wouldn’t we?

24. Buy a Photography Book
You can never own too many photography books, and each one you buy should give you a bunch of new ideas. Although that’s true of both books of photographs and books about taking pictures, you might find that photography guides give you more inspiration than a collection of images. The former will give you techniques to try out, while the latter will show you the techniques the greats have used. Stil, if you’re really stuck, go shopping.

25. Browse a Bookstore
Or save your cash, take a pile of book to the store’s café and sit and enjoy yourself. In fact, you don’t even have to take the photography books with you. Even the dust jackets of the hardbacks can give you ideas for shots, especially commercial images.

26. Step Away from the Magazine Racks

Photography: cathyse97

And if book covers can give you ideas, just think what magazine covers can do. These are designed to be eye-catching and stand out on a shelf. They could make your next photo stand out too.

27. Make Friends in the Photography World
Some photographers find it easiest to shoot alone. Others like to shoot as a group. Everyone can benefit from the feedback, discussions and habits of other photographers.

28. Join Photography Organizations
If you’re a professional and you’re not a member of a professional photography organization, you should be. Not only can organizations help with insurance and legal matters, their news, contests, and profiles of other photographers can inspire to make your own splash among your peers.

29. Shoot Yourself
Photography: hen power

When you’re stuck for a subject, always remember that there’s an interesting one behind the lens too. Be brave. Put yourself in the shot for a change.

30. Revisit Your Past
You probably have a stack of old images that you rarely review, including many that you can’t bring yourself to look at. Give them another chance. A shot that failed a few years ago might well be achievable today — and give you ideas for more.

31. Revisit Places You’ve Been Before
And the same is true of locations. Even if you’ve taken a photograph in one location, it doesn’t follow that you’ll take exactly the same image a few days, months or years later. The light will be different, your skills will be different… and so will you.

32. Ask “What if…?”
Some of the greatest artistic answers have come from asking the right questions. A good one to start with is always “What if…?” What if you focused on the foreground instead of the background? What if you changed the ISO? What if you got a flash of inspiration?

33. Leave Constructive Comments
We’ve mentioned that writing blogs can help to give you new ideas, but so can writing comments on other people’s images. Just make sure the comments are constructive. Praise the photographer’s use of shadow, for example, and you’ll be telling yourself how to get similar praise.

34. Join Photo Contests
Everyone and their uncle these days seems to be running a photography competition. And for good reason. They’re a great way to motivate photographers to shoot outside their boxes.

35. Choose a Theme
Photo contests are helpful because in addition to prizes, they also give subjects to shoot. But you don’t have to actually enter a contest to win one of those. You can pick your own theme. You could even use the categories on stock sites as inspiration for subjects.

36. Check out the Big Winners
And of course, taking a look at images shot by the winners of big photo contests, such as the Pictures of the Year, can show how far your image are from those at the top of the profession… and what you need to do to join them.

37. Go Back to the Rules
You probably know the rules of photography. And you probably know how to bend them and when to break them too. So maybe go back to when you were first learning techniques and try working strictly to rule for a while.

38. Just Shoot Anyway
There are always times when you lift the camera, look at the screen and think, “No.” But what would happen if you did it anyway? At worst, you’d waste a bit of disk space. At best, you might surprise yourself and find a new kind of composition.

39. Get a Cause
Few people are more motivated than those who believe they’re working for the common good. So join them. Pick a cause, offer it your photography skills and the end will help inspire the means. You could find yourself shooting all sorts of things from campaign posters to t-shirt images to angry demonstrations. The variety should be as satisfying as the campaigning.

40. Play with Textures
While photographers often pay attention to light and composition, the texture of the materials in the subject can be left behind. Try focusing on touch rather than vision for a few shots and see what happens…

41. Play with Colors
Or be traditional and paint your pictures with bold colors and sharp contrasts. Or try using different tones of just one or two colors and see what that does for yourt results. It might not be original but if you haven’t done it before, it could be time to give experimenting with colors a try.

42. Drop Color Altogether

Photography: cayusa

Of course, you could also be super-traditional and focus on practicing your skills in black-and-white. Do you know which shots would look best without color?

43. Play with Settings
Chances are, once you’ve found a camera setting that works for you, you don’t stray from it too far. So start straying. Play with the exposure, change the ISO, switch the shutter speed. And build on the results.

44. Play with a Point-and-Shoot
When you shoot with a DSLR, you can get used to all the bells, whistles and options that come with an expensive camera. So lay it aside, pick up an instant and shoot on the cheap. You’ll be amazed at what downgrading can do for your creativity.

45. Just Play
The beauty of digital photography is that there’s no penalty for making mistakes. That gives you a free ticket to stop worrying about whether a picture will turn out well or be an embarrassing flop, and just shoot. So try just enjoy taking photographs without thinking too much about the results.

46. Try a Different Specialty
Whether you specialize in wedding, portraits or anything else, try a niche you’ve never done before. You don’t have to do it professionally but just doing it for a while could give you a whole new bag of techniques and inspire new ways of creating your images.

47. Read Forums
We’ve mentioned that Flickr Groups can be good places to find inspiration but so can photography forums. Often, photographers use them to pose questions, but even those questions can get you thinking. The answers can get you shooting. (That can include your answers too. Tossing in your own two cents’ worth can get you thinking about all things you’re not doing — or haven’t been doing yet.)

48. Start a Project
Inspiration might come in a flash but you want it to hang around. Instead of thinking of an idea for one photograph, try thinking of an idea for a series of photographs. If you’d decided to take pictures of lightning for example, expand the concept to include extreme weather as a whole and add photographs of windswept trees and sun-bleached rooftops. That should keep you busy for a while…

49. Take a Photography Class
Photography classes make thinking up ideas very easy. You’ll even be given assignments so that you don’t have to think up subjects at all, just novel approaches to them.

50. Take any Class

Photography: absolutwade

But you don’t have to limit yourself to a photography class. A cooking class will let you create photography subjects that you can eat. A flower-arranging class could give you new ideas for floral photography. Even an origami class could provide a pile of new ideas for images.

51. Define the Perfect Image
Do you know what the perfect image would look like? Bet you’re thinking about it now, right? Instead of thinking how good the next shoot would be, try thinking about what the best shot would look like… then find it.

52. Create a Shooting Schedule
One way to cut back on the regular head-scratching is to plan ahead. Pull out a calendar and decide in advance what sort of images you’ll be shooting each weekend for the next few months. And leave room for flexibility.

53. Pick a Different Model
If you always use the same models or models with similar looks go for something completely different: the opposite sex, a different height, a new age group. See what a different subject can for your ideas.

54. Ignore the Silly Criticism
This one won’t boost your inspiration but it might stop it being blocked. Ask people to comment on your photos and you’ll always get someone with something dumb to say. The challenge is to pick out the constructive comments and leave out the smartass ones that can make you think twice in the future.

55. Do Something Totally Outrageous
Ever told yourself “That would never work?” Well, here’s a “what if…” What if it did work? Go ahead, surprise yourself. Shoot what’s under the sofa. Snap the top of your head. Do something outrageously silly… and see if it works.

56. Give yourself Limits
Some of the greatest literature has been written under the strictest censorship. So limit yourself. Close the door and shoot only an object that you can find in the room. Or tell yourself that you have to produce a fantastic image within the next half hour. Take up the challenge

57. Tell a Story
Good pictures always tell a story. So try thinking of a story then go out and create the images that illustrate it. That could be the story of your street, a narrative describing a community or even the progression of a cub baseball team. Find where your story begins then use your camera to follow it through to the end.

58. Print your Pictures
It’s one thing to view your photos on a computer screen but printing them out and holding them in your hand can be something else altogether. Try printing a selection of your photos and see whether they still work on paper… and how you can improve them.

59. Take an Object, Any Object…
We started this list by pointing out that flea markets are full of strange objects to photograph. But there’s a limit to how you can photograph an individual object in a flea market. So take one home or pick something off the shelf and give yourself a whole new set of still lifes.

60. Buy New Equipment
And if all else fails, you can always use cash. A burst of new ideas always seems to come free with a new lens.

Post on April 25th, 2017 at 7:08 am

FASHION INSPIRATION FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS AND EVERYONE ELSE TOO

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Sharing beautiful fashion photography for everyone to enjoy.

Post on April 25th, 2017 at 7:01 am

5 Tips for Protecting Your Digital Photos

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The advent of the internet has provided endless opportunities for photographers; it has →

How To Deal With Copyright Infringement Per Zennstrom shares his experience with handling copyright infringement & shows how to deal with intellectual property (IP) infringement in the real world.
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Mastering The Digital Workflow We share with the readers of FashionPhotographyBlog.com, the processes we go through in our workflow. After revealing tips for the photographic workflow, there are two types of workflow that photographers should pay attention to. In this article we’ll be discussing the other half of the equation, that is, the digital workflow process.
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