Fashion/Beauty/Glamour Photography Part#3

Fashion/Beauty/Glamour Photography Part 3 of 3

Glamour Photography

Glamour photography by far is the most provocatively daring out of the three categories. It is comprised almost entirely of female subjects but with some males. The purpose of the photography is often used to display the human form in a suggestive and/or alluring manner.

Glamour photography may achieve a similar purpose as fashion and beauty photography but more often than not the emphasis is on the model as opposed to what the model might be wearing or the scene of the composition. Themes range from the promotion of swimwear to fine art nudes and boudoir. Glamour photography is prominent in the display of lingerie and fantasy clothing. Glamour photography and modeling also may take place at car shows and similar promotional events.

Glamour photography models tend to range from athletic fitness builds to full figured voluptuous builds. Glamour photography has a broad dynamic light range from high key through mid and on to extreme low-key. They are often high contrast to emphasize a model’s body and/or to highlight the fit of clothing. A high fashion model or a glamour model may promote an article like designer jeans but more often than not glamour models will book a jean ad due to their more curvaceous build that highlight the fit and form. Yet, it will always depend on the venue. All things regarding modeling and photography depend on the client expectations, the model’s ability, and the photographer’s skill level to convey a mood that gives rise to thought, and ends in a perfect form.

Not all glamour photography models or type of photography fit so neatly into a category. The different classifications blend, merge and become harder to separate. One such mergence is Victoria Secrets. VS is able to successfully blend all categories and sub categories and effectively promote their entire product line. From lingerie to cocktail dresses, the VS model is able to accommodate multiple looks from high fashion to basic fleece loungewear, all the way to fantasy.

Whether you’re an aspiring model, photographer, or designer with aspirations of making it commercially, it is important to understand the purpose and venue for which your work will be used. Models need to begin tailoring their styles, their portfolios, and start marketing their work toward the genre they wish to work in. This will affect their poses, their look and style as well as serve as a determinant for deciding which photographer they choose to work with to build their portfolios. This also gives the model a general idea of the work he/she is best suited for.

Photographers, like models need to tailor their work toward the proper styles to attract the proper clientele and commercial contracts. This will affect his/her portfolio, their style and underlying mood of picture taking. This will also strongly affect the equipment a photographer will buy to light his/her subjects. Different types of lighting will produce different shades, contrast, and moods on the subject.

Photography, design, and marketing are wonderful things that I take very seriously and like any business, it requires diligence, perseverance, and the realization that no one knows everything; that I can still learn, grow, and excel in the craft for as long as I practice it.

Modeling and photography is difficult and challenging work despite the type of modeling or genre it falls into and I’ve witnessed models and photographers time and again crossing boundaries and discovering that their limitations are only imaginary and that categories are only illusions.

But these are only opinions and sometimes a beautiful image is just a beautiful image. It does not require classification or a category. It is simply enough to enjoy the thought and feeling it conveys.