BRIEF TOUR through the history of FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY

In the historical era in which we live, taking a photograph is part of our daily life. Have you ever stopped to think how many photos you take a day? The technique is quite simple, just take out your smartphone, open the camera and shoot. Once in the mobile gallery we can edit it and share it with our followers on any social network.

Making this reflection while I was preparing for the last Fashion Law Meeting of Fashion Law Institute Spain in which I participated, and what was about copyright and image rights of fashion photography, I concluded in two aspects:

1. How much photography has changed since its inception.

2. How little aware we are when we share our photos on social networks of what we really share.

Regarding the second conclusion, I leave you here the link of the digital meeting so that you are the one who also learn about legal aspects that affect photography in general and fashion photography in particular. I think it can be of great help to you, whether you are a fashion professional or not. Well, we all handle photographs on a daily basis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr6STJxphyQ

And as for the first conclusion ... if, like me, you are curious about history ... here is a brief overview of the history of photography.

Since the first daguerreotype (first photographic cameras) dated 1838, which contained a view of the Boulevard du Temple in Paris and required a ten-minute exposure, was unveiled, nothing has been the same again. A way of painting, by changing the way of seeing, and a good part of the art of painting, as it had been understood, reached its irremediable end. Although, in turn, a whole world of consequences opened up until now unpredictable.

Before photography, artists saw, perceived everything in motion. They did not know the stillness of an instant that photography provides: animals, people, water currents or the wind swaying the branches of the trees. And if people remained still by order of the painter, it was the light and the shadows that could not be stopped. The arrival and immediate perfection of the photographic snapshot was an ally that more and more artists made use of.

Thus began a war between defenders and retractors of photography. In the mid-nineteenth century, the debate centered on whether photography would make painting disappear.

Impressionist painters such as Ingres and Courbet at first repudiated this new invention, in part because they ran out of sustenance from taking portraits, since photography democratized this specialty. However, both worlds began to coexist, photographers want to be painters with their techniques and tricks and take photographs as paintings, over time painters adopted photographic strategies.

Thus, in the 20th century, with the most developed draguerotype, they managed to portray live models who paid for both posing and portraying, such as Kiki de Montparnasse. Little by little, fashion photography became a form of artistic expression in its own right.

The original function of the first fashion photographs was utilitarian: fashion items were displayed for a commercial purpose. However, it later became an art, a way of expressing an individual's wishes.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the first fashion photographs appeared in magazines, which until then were exclusively illustrated. During the 1920s and 1930s, magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar began to portray models with clothing and accessories, with the innovation that natural poses and environments stood out, close to the final consumer.

The birth of fashion photography, as we know it today, arises from the hand of photographer Martin Munkácsi, at Harper’s Bazaar, who introduced the movement to fashion photography, thus laying the foundation for contemporary trends. In his images, clothing ceases to be an accessory to become a living element, a part of the models.

Other photographers such as Man Ray and Horst P. Horst incorporated classical, modern and theatrical styles, with a mixture of artistic avant-gardes that at the same time questioned the traditional idea of ​​beauty.

Towards the fifties, the work of fashion photographers in New York, such as Irving Penn, who worked with Vogue, is essential. With him the models became the center of the image, and he influenced the entire subsequent generation of fashion photographers.

Later, with the cultural and social revolutions of the seventies and seventies, fashion photography adapted to the changes. Photographers such as Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin emerged, who incorporated into their photographs criticisms and influences of what was happening in the world, with stronger and more independent women.

In the eighties, the focus was on the consumer society, and fashion photography focused on advertising. Some representatives of this decade and who continue today are Patrick Demarchelier, Bruce Weber and Oliviero Toscani.

In the nineties, a more minimalist image became popular and the popularity of top models grew. Representative photographers are Peter Lindbergh, Mario Testino, David LaChapelle, Steven Meisel, Nick Knight or Annie Levovick.

Subsequently, an interest arises to return to a less commercial and more artistic fashion photography, such as with Terry Richardson or Juergen Teller, which in turn reflect realism in their images.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, fashion has diversified as much as the exponents of fashion photography, so that there is no single predominant trend or technique.

Some current exponents are David Sims, Tim Walker, Steven Klein or Inez & Vinoodh.

And in this way we come back to the beginning of this post, where now the big fashion magazines have stopped dictating fashion trends because each of us consume them directly from social networks. I hope you have enjoyed this post and that from now on, you become more aware that each photo we upload has importance and rights of its own.

#newpost #fashionculture #fashionhistory #fashionphotography