Fashion photography has been a popular photography genre for decades. It involves the intersection of photography with the world of fashion. Fashion photographers may shoot spreads for fashion magazines, capture photographs on location for look-books, photograph clothes in showrooms or runways, and so on. Fashion photography can be artful, commercial, or a blend of both. But it largely involves capturing the relationship between a model and the clothes worn by them in the most spectacular manner. Experienced fashion photographers like Bruce Weber work with major fashion magazines, photographs for ad campaigns, and more. He has in fact worked for globally renowned names like Calvin Klein, Karl Lagerfeld Gianni Versace, Ralph Lauren, as well as Abercrombie & Fitch.
A good fashion photographer does much more than just click pictures. These individuals are usually quite knowledgeable about the varying brands and people they work with. Even if they do not have prior knowledge about the brand or magazine they are working with, they try their best to do the needed homework and research before the assignment. Dedication is important to all good fashion photographers. They always follow the code of the fashion houses they are working with while doing any commercial work. If they are shooting a fashion editorial, the photographer will know both the style and styling conventions of the publications. On the whole, they try to stay up-to-date with the trends of the fashion industry. Their work ideally reflects the tangible cultural moment, but good photographers also know how to create an image that seems relevant after years.
Apart from having a robust understanding of the fashion world of today, fashion photographers also need to have good interpersonal skills. The photographer would be just one of a large team of people at a fashion shoot. Such shoots usually involve fashion stylists, seamstresses, makeup artists, and hairstylists, apart from the models and the photographer. Depending on the dynamic of the shoot, photographers can be looked upon as some kind of a leader. Hence, it typically is their responsibility to see to it that the models feel comfortable. When working on location, fashion photographers would be the ones to set up the shot, and work with both artificial lighting and natural light. These professionals are commonly required to work in varied types of locations, including studios, outdoors, runways at fashion shows, couture presentations during Fashion Week and so on.
While the journey of fashion photographers is not always simple, it definitely is pretty exciting. With consistent hard work and dedication, one can try to gain success similar to major names in the industry like Bruce Weber. Born in rural Greensburg, Pennsylvania in 1946, Bruce became the preeminent photographer in the fashion industry in the 1980s. Even today he continues to be one of the most popular and influential photographers in the world. He took part in his first group show at The Floating Foundation of Photography in 1973 and had his first solo exhibition at Razor Gallery in New York City a year later.
