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There is a contradiction in fashion photography: In theory, its purpose the same as that of a catalogue: to depict the clothes and help to sell them. In practice however, fashion photography has been used as a vehicle for self-expression by some of the world's greatest photographers. (Aidan O'Rourke)
Through this tension have come about some of the most memorable images in the history of photography, transcending the time in which they were made, and representing that time for us today.
I became actively interested in fashion photography when, in 1991, I saw an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, detailing the development of the genre in the post war years. I found many of the images extremely captivating and interesting. Though I had enjoyed the fashion photography of contemporary magazines such as Harpers and Queen and Vogue, I had never before seen so many original prints from earlier decades and I responded to them with enthusiasm, hoping to introduce elements of their technique and atmosphere into my own photography.
I intend to use this piece of writing as an opportunity not only to learn more about the history and development of the fashion photograph, but also to analyze, by the use of many of my favorite images, what it is that underlies their timeless appeal, and, from the point of view of a student of photography, the techniques the photographers used to achieve their desired effects.
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The precursors of fashion photography go back to the eighteenth century, when images of fashionable clothes were printed in magazines and often hand-colored. Paris was at that time a centre for the production of such magazines, many of which were imported into England. Figure 1 shows a typical example of such an image.
The technique of photography was developed in the 1830s, but it wasn't until much later that the métier of fashion photography came into existence. The earliest popular photographic technique, the daguerreotype, could not be used for mass printing. A later technique enabled the production of the "Carte de Visite" which were made for individuals and which also depicted famous theatre and music hall personalities of the age. It wasn't until advances in halftone printing techniques that fashion photographs came to be featured in magazines. This happened in about the first decade of the 20th century.
Full Article
History of Fashion Photography Essay by Aidan O'Rourke
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