Fashion Photography

Fashion Photography is a genre of photography, that's purpose is to display clothing or other fashion items. Fashion photography is most often used for advertisments or fashion magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, Elle etc. It has come to a point where fashion photography has developed its own aesthetic in which the clothes and fashions are enhanced by the presence of exotic locations or accessories.

Fashion photography has been in existance since the early days of photograhy. In 1856 Adolph Braun published a book containing 288 photographs of Virginia Oldoini, a lady of Nepoleon's court, dressed in official court garb, making her the first fashion model.

In the early 20th century, develpoments in halftone printing allowed fashion photograhs to be introduced into magazines. The first being French and American magazines such as La mode pratique and Harper's Bazaar. In 1909, Conde Nast took over Vogue magazine and also contributed to the beginnings of fashion photography.

In the mid-1930s as World War II approached, the focus shifted to the United States, where Vogue and Harper's continued their old rivalry. In 1936, Martin Munkacsi made the first photographs of models in sporty poses at the beach. Under the artistic direction of Alexey Brodovich.

Irving Penn was one of the twentieth century's great photographers, known for his arresting images and masterful printmaking. Although he was celebrated as one of Vogue magazine's top photographers for more than sixty years, Penn was an intensely private man who avoided the limelight and pursued his work with quiet and relentless dedication. At a time when photography was primarily understood as a means of communication, he approached it with an artist's eye and expanded the creative potential of the medium, both in his professional and personal work.

Born in 1917 in Plainfield, New Jersey to immigrant parents, Penn attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Arts from 1934–38 and studied with Alexey Brodovitch in his Design Laboratory. A formidable Russian émigré who worked in Paris in the 1920s, Brodovitch taught the application of principles of modern art and design through exposure to magazines, exhibitions, architecture, and photography.

In 1950, Penn was sent to Paris to photograph the haute couture collections for Vogue. He worked in a dayight studio with an old theater curtain as a backdrop, and was graced with an extraordinary model named Lisa Fonssagrives, whom he first encountered in 1947.

Concerns about the fashion industry’s promotion of extreme thinness are nothing new, but a recent research study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders confirms that unhealthy weight-control practices are a serious problem in the industry. Too often, models are being pressured to jeopardize their health and safety as a prerequisite for employment.

Research has shown that adolescent girls who regularly read and look at fashion magazines are two to three times more likely to diet to lose weight because of an article. One study, which surveyed girls from grades 5-12, found that:

69% of girls report that "magazine pictures influence their idea of the perfect body shape"

47% report "wanting to lose weight because of magazine pictures"

Social media also comes into play when looking at the effect anorexia in modeling has on the public, in particular young girls:

Body Objectification: Pictures on social media, many of which are altered, play a role in how one seeks validation, often finding our worth by how many “likes” and comments we receive. I have worked with individuals that have used this to decide if they were going to eat that day or not. Selfies on social media can potentially send a message that our beauty determines our worth and our body, a message of which many with an eating disorder struggle.

Comparison: The nature of social media lends itself toward comparison, as we often judge ourselves against others highlight reels of success and happiness. For someone in the depths of an eating disorder, this can be toxic as they compare their body image to those seen on social media. As I stated earlier, these images are often altered and paint an unrealistic picture of how we think we should look.

Triggers: For those in recovery, social media offers triggers to engage in eating disordered behaviors. From personal experience and from women I have treated, I have seen these triggers often come from posts about weight loss, workout routines, dieting, and the images of unrealistic ideals of body sizes. For example, there are many posts of before and after weight loss photos that may trigger the urge to lose weight by any means necessary.