Photography Ideas- Fashion

Emily Monsey

Mind Map

Mert & Marcus

All black & white- only selected some in colour

Angle – looking up at the model

Bold, bright colour against neutral background

Monochrome- use of shadow

Unusual set up

Models lying down- different from usual

Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott are famous fashion designers and have done shoots for a wide range of magazines and brands such as; Numéro, Pop Magazine, W Magazine, Vogue Italia and Vogue U.S.A. They have worked with top brands like Missoni, Roberto Cavalli, Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, Kenzo and Giorgio Armani. This work helped them to create an amazing portfolio of work and they are now established in the fashion and photography industry. Their work varies as they include many different styles of work in their images, however they do seem to always include bright and bold colours as this has been shown in the work I have personally looked at. In the images that colour has not been used they have enabled light and shadows to add drama to the photograph, this is what makes all of their photographs really interesting and is the reason they have grown in this industry. I really like this photographer and it also fit in with a lot of the ideas I had in mind for my own shoot, they have used a monochrome effect on the images and then added colour to certain parts which I had already planned to do as I feel it adds difference and makes the colour pop against the harsh and dull backdrop. They have also included a variety of different angles as they have used a head on approach and also done one of the camera looking up to the model which I had in mind as I think It makes it look much more interesting. Looking at these photographs has helped me as I really liked the idea of the different poses the models were making and am thinking of using some for my work.

Nick Knight

Really unique and different – not many people would chose to do this

Completely highlights the dress- using the dress’ shape

Blurred out background & use of colour- gives tie dye effect

Lots of colour- really different and interesting

Only put light on the dress showing silhouette of model

Nick Knight is a well known fashion photographer and was first known for his photographs in his book ‘skinheads’, this helped develop his career and skills and since then he has worked with a number of designers. Some of which include; Christian Dior, Calvin Klein, Jil Sander, Levi Strauss, Lancôme and Alexander McQueen. He then launched his own website in 2000 and has succeeded in his career and is now among the best fashion photographers in the industry. I particularly liked Knight’s photographs as they were so unique and different from anything I have seen before. The ideas for the different shoots are very creative and involve lots of studio work, bright lighting and dramatic and sometimes risky ideas that make the images so interesting to look at and highlight the clothes at the same time. It is hard to find any similarities within the images as they are all so unique and have their own story to tell, one similarity is that they all make a bold statement and stand out from many other fashion photography work. For example there is one that has been shot with a model dressed in snake-skin clothes and snake-skin shoes, she has then been covered with snakes making the image very abstract as she blends in and can be hard to see. This has helped me as all of the images are so complicated and interesting to look at, this has made me want to include a fairly busy looking image with quite a lot to look at.

Steven Meisel

Really abstract as the clothes blend with the floor

Looks like it’s observational- actually posed/staged

Only focused on the colour red, makes it bold & stands out

Dull lighting- highlights the dress & head piece

Steven Meisel is a famous fashion photographer and started off working with ‘W’ and ‘Vogue’ but his ‘claim to fame’ was when he pictured Madonna for her book titled ‘sex’ in 1992. Meisel is also known for the numerous models and fashion personalities that he discovered, these include; Naomi Campbell, Coco Rocha, Lara Stone, Kristy Turlington, Raquel Zimmerman and Linda Evangelista. He now photographs all of the Italian Vogue covers in which he has made a close friendship with the editor-in-chief. I really likes his images as I found them so intriguing, detailed and extremely interesting to look at as he makes sure that all of the photos appear to look busy as he has a lot going on that you can see. He has done some more stripped back shoots at times and these are still not too passive looking as the outfits are all very dramatic and take the focus of the image. I also noticed a lot of contrast within the images as he has done some in black and white, some are very dull colours and others a packed with bright colours and patterns. Another thing that is very noticeable from looking at the images is that the shoots are commonly shot in actual places instead of using a studio which adds to the drama of the image and also helps to tell a story as each of his images have lot going on in them. I am definitely going to use this as inspiration and as a guide to my photographs as I really want mine to be interesting and have some of the bright colours Meisel uses.