Fashion Photography

Fashion Photography Introduction

Fashion photography was developed in the 1830s and was later developed in 1856 when Adolphe Braun published a book of 252 pictures of Tuscan noblewoman Oldoini who was then the first fashion model, ever.
Halftone printing also helped fashion photography by allowing it to be put into magazines. Developed in the 20th Century, this was a series of microscopic dots, printed with one ink colour to create an optical illusion of smooth tones.

Application

Fashion photography consists mainly of female models and is usually used to display items of clothing or accessories. The photography also sets unrealistic targets for the people reading it in the big fashion magazines today, such as Vogue, Marie Claire and Closer. Fashion Photography has been improved since; an example of this is the introduction of unusual, exotic locations in the 1940's. Richard Avedon, a fashion photographer, used his imagination to create unusual images in the world of fashion.

Context

Fashion photography is usually used to express what the true perception of beauty is such as the term "Size Zero" used by the press to show how unreal some photography can be. This is used all over the place, including billboards, catalogues and advertisements. Fashion photography can also be important in other ways. Magazines exaggerate the features of women in fashion photography and photos can be easily altered with modern technology such as Photoshop and other websites.

 

Techniques

Photographers use many techniques to photograph models. The preferred method is using the modern, digital camera as the images turn out more colourful and exposing. Models also wear the clothes so that parts of their bodies are exposed to show a target for wannabe ladies. Photos are also manipulated using modern software on computers and other devices to improve the qualities of the models; this can be used to increase or decrease the size of features, curve some areas of the body and erase impurities on the body, this makes the model appear more perfect than they actually are. One other way this form of photography is enhanced is by using an exotic or surreal enviornment. This makes the model stand out around the other parts of the photograph.