Fashion Photography

Fashion Photography is more about the clothing and accessories on the model than the model its self, Unlike portraiture which is more about the model and there emotions.

Fashion Photography has been around since 1839 and is mostly advertised in Magazines e.g. Vogue, Vanity Fair and Elle. The Fashion Industry are all about designer outfits which they plan to sell using Magazines etc.



1) When is an image a portrait, When is it a Fashion photograph? 
The difference between the both is that Portraiture is where the person is the subject where as in Fashion clothing, accessories etc would be the subject in this case. Generally, in a portrait photograph it's not edited it's more natural however fashion is very much tampered with e.g. Photo Shopped which involve shaping, clearing skin blemishes etc. With Portraiture images the aim is to capture the expression of the person where as fashion is similar but they are more into making the model look appealing and to also show off what they are advertising.

2) To what degree should an image be manipulated to go into a fashion magazine? 
As we know, Fashion Photography isn't always about the model it's more about what the models wearing. But they shouldn't tamper with the model too much, as it can come across as misleading. Personally I feel that the digital manipulation of images is far from appropriate as it gets rid of the natural appearance, deeming it fake. Last year, there was even a massive controversy over an advert by Maxfactor, advertising their false lash effect mascara, which was stated to give eyelashes 400% volume without leaving clumps or smudges. When the advert was aired, it was discovered that the model, supposedly demonstrating the product's effect, was, in fact wearing fake eyelashes. There were alot of people, including myself who thought that there approach to promoting this product was silly. They shouldn't lead people into spending all this money on something that wont work the way they state it does.

3) Is there a clash between the creative and commercial side of Fashion Photography? 
The creative side need the commercial side because the commercial side are the ones who publish there creative ideas to the world. They both need each other really because their creations are the company's source of income, also because the creative side create and the commercial side sell their creations.

       

Diane Arbus 

Diane Arbus was a photographer known for he black and white square portriture.

Diane Originally learnt photography from her husband Allan Arbus. They worked together for a short  period of time doing Fashion Photography which ended up in Magazines such as Vogue in the late 1950's, until she then started to persue photography on her own. At Christmas in 1969 she was hired by a wealthy family The Matthaei's to take family portraits.

 The image above is of the wealthy families Daughter (Marcella Matthaei)