Fashion Photography

General History

Cecil Beaton:

Wikipedia background:

"Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, CBE (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was an English fashion and portrait photographer,diarist, painter, interior designer and an Academy Award-winning stage and costume designer for films and the theatre. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1970

glamorous pictures"

From film clip:

In 30's- set the template "Selling a dream" "Created a dream world"

Never shouted, was called sir or Mr Beaton- authority presence but never said he had

had people to set up his equipment.

Recreating the picture:

Used the same camera as Beaton, film, black room to develop, black and white, image was upside down as no mirrors, orthentic image.

Q1- Difference between a Portrait and a Fashion photograph

Fashion= Clothes, not very creating, model is not the focus
Portrait= Person, personality, emotional
what's important?
Whats the purpose of the photo?
Similar or different?

Q2- To what degree should an image be manipulated for fashion

What happens?
What effect it has on the public/ viewer?
Not just digital manipulation/ air brushing
Changing the picture the photographer wanted?
Moral issues
How are models selected?

Q3- Is their a clash between Creative and commercial fashion

No matter how creative, commercial pictures always win because they're more about the clothes.
why is their a clash?
Where does it happen?
Who is responsible?
Money?





    There are many differences between a portrait photograph and a fashion photograph. The obvious difference is that a portrait concentrates on the emotion of the person, telling the audience about that person however fashion photographs are all about the clothes and how the clothes looks on the model so they can sell them. Often in fashion photographs the models are edited. For example the models are airbrushed and their bodies adapted because they are not the focus, they are there to make the clothes look good.

http://www.fashionphotography.com/

    Fashion photography is found in magazines selling the clothing, for example Vogue Magazine is popular for its fashion clothes. Creating unique and dynamic photos is a main part of fashion photography and for this lighting comes in. Lighting gives you the control of the emotion the audience will feel. If the lighting is wrong or negative  it portrays a negative image about the clothing line shown so creativity isn't the number one rule when it comes to fashion photographs. Fashion photography is harsh and critical, if the picture doesn't make the clothes and accessories look appealing then the photo will be cut from the magazine instantly. For example, Anna Wintour cut a lovely galiano photoshoot from the magazine because it was too creative (Below). The image Vogue was looking for is focus on the woman's dresses not on how pretty and colourful the image is. It roughly took half a day to set up however its so easy for someone to come along and cut the image.

Photo cut from Vogue Magazine

Google Images- portrait photography

     Portrait photographs are very different, they are all about the person or people in the image. These are often of you or your family as you hire a photographer for special occasions. You will also see this type of photography in art galleries as most professional photographers like landscapes and portraits. You are not trying to make the person or their clothing look good like fashion photography, you are trying to tell people about them. You have to capture someone as they really are not staged poses. Most photographers like to add mystery and emotion into their photos as it created a story about that person. For example the picture, right, of the woman isn't a typical picture you would see in the family album. It has emotion in they eyes and wonder that brings you in, it makes you think about what she has seen.

       To conclude, the two photography styles are very different however they both can be taken anywhere, studio or outside, and they both need the right lighting to create the image they need. The purpose of fashion photography is to make the clothes and accessories known, its basically advisement. On the other had we have portraiture which is to make the person or people in the photo have emotion and is also used to advertise the photographer so people will know him/her. Both photography styles end up being used for advertising purposes however the way the photographer takes the picture (eg lighting, background) and the creativity (eg some or a lot) is different and that's what makes them so different but at the same time so similar.

Google Images- Portraiture

Google Images- Vogue 2012

Portraiture

Diane Arbus (Matthael Family)

• She was in New York in the early 60's.
• The models face will show the emotion Arbus wants us to feel.
• She was curious, never threatening. She always used to whisper to people so they would lean in.
•  "It was all about her" in her photographs. It was "the work of someone who wanted to be someone else", she wanted to be the person she captured.
• She was a risky choice to be the Matthael's photographer as they were rich and wanted good photos and they chose Arbus who many people didn't know. They said her work was "unique"
• The photos she took were not always flattering but they were very interesting, the family had lots of photos but none like the ones Arbus captured.
• In 1971 she took her own life, friends said maybe "she didn't find what she was looking for" 

Richard Evans

• He was a celebrity photographer, very well known for his work.
• He died in 2005.
• In the 30's and 40's, photographers were known for "Making the famous look divine".
• Every celebrity wore a mask in Evans mind, he tried to take away the mask that they show to the public and capture the real them.
• Its all about the person's personality not about the image the model wishes to show the public.
• "people are not who they appear to be" One family photo cant show you how close the family are, what the families personality is like and who gets along or not.

Tony Vaccaro

• He didn't take any pictures that were pre-posed, he took them in the moment they relax and show their real personality.
• Emotion is important.

 Larry Clark

• He was an insider photographer not an outsider like the people above.
• He took mainly nude pictures.
• He took pictures that were apart of his life, his pictures were like a diary.
• 1971 he published a book called "Tosser" with all his pictures in.
• He captured real scenes from his life, like drugs, nude scenes, very private pictures.

 Portraiture: Portraying a person. You may never get the full understanding of the person but its real, its a captured moment that has actually happened and cant be made up.


Photojournalism: Their is a story, you are being told about the picture so a specific image is already put into your head when you look at the picture.


 Who is in control the model or the photographer? The photographer captures the shot he wants however the model makes the emotion and personality given in the photo.

Application

History:

     The Rich and powerful used to be the only people to have their portrait taken. None else could afford it. Diana Arbus is a good example of this as she took portraits of the Matthael Family who were very well know. Arbus took the photos at the family party which is a very common thing to do as the rich always had posh house parties with photographers.
     Portraiture Photographers often used to want to take pictures of the personalities of the people not posed pictures that the rich wanted others to see them as. A know Photographer who shares this technique is Tony Vaccaro. Vaccaro liked to wait for the person to show a part o them that they hadn't pre-posed, for example, if you were rich or "high class" everyone saw you as you wanted to be shown. Men used to have a certain power and women always looked their best however that wasn't them as a person, that was how they wanted the public to see them. Vaccaro wanted to show emotion and personality in the pictures he took however it meant getting rid of the models pre-posed position.
     I think catching people in the moment is very important, especially to photographers, because you are capturing a moment. The photographer only captures an image he is happy with and Vaccaro was very precise with his photo's.

Tony Vaccaro - The kiss of liberation

 Tony Vaccaro

     Tony Vaccaro, American photographer, best known for his photos in Europe in 1944/5 and in Germany after WWII.
    Vaccaro was a war photographer and he was a great soldier but an ever better photographer. Vaccaro had determination and courage, he got as close as he could to get the best pictures he could however being a soldier too he didn't have time to take a perfect picture however he captured a soldiers life.
    The army had ownership of his photos so unfortunately they took them from Vaccaro as it would contradict the positive messages back home. This didn't stop Vaccaro, he went out and took as many pictures as he could. Photography was his passion so, to Vaccaro, it was life and death because he had to capture true "in the moment" images.
 
 The picture below shows a soldier returning home to Frankfurt to find his house bombed and his family gone. I think this is a great photo because it shows the true emotion of the returning soldier.

German soldier returns home - Tony Vaccaro

"Together, these two images showcase Vaccaro’s talent for capturing a moment, joyous or devastating. His enormous collection of war-time images, however, was just the beginning of his career."
 http://www.military-history.org/articles/war-photographers/tony-vaccaro-war-photographer.htm  


These two photographs are some of Vaccaro's finest work according to the webpage above. The tow photos show two very different emotions, the top image shows hope whereas the image to the left show devastation. devastation is hard to show in an image especially in a soldier that has been in war however Vaccaro has captured the soldiers true emotion.The two photo's shows us that Vaccaro capture people in the moment whether its a joyful or heart-breaking moment.