Understanding Fashion Photography

Fashion photography is a genre of photography that is dedicated to displaying clothing and other fashion items in general.
It is also classified under commercial photography but I would say it’s a branch of commercial photography that allows the most artistic expression.
Fashion photographers don’t just take pictures of clothes, they exhibit pieces in a way that makes you see the beauty, uniqueness and sometimes versatility the fashion item being focused on. They also must have a way of telling stories with the images to compel the viewer to admire, appreciate and understand the brand being portrayed.

Fashion photography is mostly used for advertorials, features in magazines and other platforms.
Just like all other genres of photography, fashion photography has its own niche. As a fashion photographer you need to have an eye for colour, and understanding of posing and you need to be able to take charge.
When I say take charge I mean that you need to be able to let your artistic vision be expressed to its fullest maximum, you need to exercise authority in way where directions given to the model are passed across effectively.

Great communication skills are also really needed because it’s a genre that involves a lot more people in the creative process. Unless you’re the designer, model, makeup artist and stylist all at the same time as being the photographer then you will need to work with people and sometimes it may be people you’ve never worked with before, so good communication and PR skills are very important.
As for the creative side of photography, that cannot be taught, you either have it or you don’t but you have constantly improve and gain greater understanding of it.

Fashion photography is an amazing genre, there’s so much that goes into it and if I must say, it’s one of the largest most versatile genres of photography.
The last thing I would say is that it’s very important to know how to define your style and your artistic interpretation despite the versatility of the genre because that way, you’re not only exhibiting fashion pieces, but also exhibiting your art, creativity and personal style.