Another interesting and the most sought after genre of photography is Fashion photography or the display of clothes and fashion items in an artistic and aesthetic manner. This genre has developed with time and is one of the most lucrative forms of Photography. Fashion photography is a display of expressive poses, daring couture and the aura of glamour captured by various fashion photographers with an aesthetic sense of composition.

Photography and fashion have been inextricably linked since the early 1900s, when fashion magazines rocketed to popularity. Fashion photography made its first appearance in French magazines such as La mode practique and Les mode. In 1909, Condι Nast took over Vogue magazine and also contributed to the beginnings of fashion photography. Special emphasis was placed on staging the shots, a process first developed by Baron Adolf de Meyer, who shot his models in natural environments and poses. Vogue was followed by its rival, Harper`s Bazaar, and the two companies were leaders in the field of fashion photography throughout the 1920s and 1930s. House photographers such as Edward Steichen, George Hoyningen-Huene, Horst P. Horst and Cecil Beaton, and independents such as Yva transformed the genre into an outstanding art form. Europe, and especially Germany, was for a short time the leader in fashion photography.


Since then fashion photography has come a long way. It is a beautiful composition of light, art and aesthetic sense and how one uses his or her subject. Photographers are no longer restricted to life behind the camera. The ace lens men who choose angles, set-up lights and soften the focus -- all to make women and fashion items look glamorous, are as famous as their subjects these days. Each fashion photographer had a distinct style of their own from the refined extravagance of Baron Adolf de Meyer and Cecil Beaton, to the classic elegance of Edward Steichen, the dazzling glamour of Irving Penn, the graphic snap of Richard Avedon, the irreverent chic of William Klein, the moody dreaminess of Deborah Turbeville, the provocative seduction of Helmut Newton, and the sensual elegance of Herb Ritts.

In India too fashion photography has become a huge craze. Farrokh Chotia, Vikram Bawa, Jatin Kampani, Atul Kasbekar are only some of the few names from a wide list of hugely successful Indian Fashion photographers. Some twenty years ago Fashion photography was never taken seriously in India. In those days fashion was a flippant. There was no benefit of better technology nor were there magazines that specialized in fashion. The 80`s saw the dawn of the fashion era in India. And then came names like Ashok Salian, who is famous for taking glamorous pictures of the evergreen Rekha. Fashion, and anything connected to it, is now in the public eye. Fashion photography as a career developed recently in India. Specialist studios or freelancers who are commissioned by fashion houses of advertising agencies do most fashion photography; they usually work under the direction of a fashion expert. Fashion photographers cater to a variety of clients, fashion houses, designers, and portfolios for models, fashion journals and newspapers. They are required to have an eye for detail and knowledge of fashion. Fashion photographers are aware of styles, moods and fashion trends. The job is in the studio as well as on locations.