The fashion industry is face-paced and always changing. In an industry that is continuously evolving, fashion photographers are essential in bringing the latest styles and trends to consumers around the world. Behind every fashion magazine spread and style campaign is a brilliant fashion photographer who brought together the right fashion, the right models, and the right locations. Some of these end up being famous or well-recognized for their photography work and career!
Following the images of successful famous fashion photographers allows you to explore different styles, techniques, and inspirational elements. To get started, let us check out some of the most legendary famous fashion photographers who paved the way for fashion photography across the globe.
Richard Avedon
Best known for his work with portrait photography, American photographer Richard Avedon’s focus on minimalism set him apart from many fashion photographers of his time. His early work began with simple identification photos before he was inspired to move on to the fashion world – shooting for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Avedon was also one of the first photographers to demand emotion and movement from his models, setting a new tone from the norm of motionless fashion photography.
Helmut Newton
Notoriously known as ‘The King of Kink’, Helmut Newton became one of the greatest photographers of the twentieth century by redefining the way women were portrayed in the fashion world. Newton was not a fan of staying in the lines of “good taste” and instead paved the way for fashion photography to become provocative and bold. He took his photography outside of the studio and into the streets – incorporating sexuality, desire, and human exploration. His love for the cinema is evident in his photography preferences for black and white film, mystery, and seduction.
Peter Lindbergh
Known for his cinematic images and realism, Peter Lindbergh is also considered a pioneer in the photography industry. Lindbergh drastically changed the standards of fashion photography when he redefined the standards of beauty with timeless images. His humanistic approach to photography allowed him to capture soul and personality in his photos during a time when excessive retouching and perfection were the norm. His vision is to present photos in their pure state, avoiding all stereotypes and enhancing the authenticity of women.
“This should be the responsibility of photographers today to free women, and finally everyone, from the terror of youth and perfection.” – Peter Lindbergh
Ellen von Unwerth
A German photographer best known for her playfully erotic images of female pop culture, Ellen von Unwerth places the importance of atmosphere over technique. Discovered by a model scout at the age of 20, Ellen spent her first 10 years in the fashion world as a model before turning to photography. Her provocative, yet playful, approach to photography launched her career and dictated the Guess brand’s infamously provocative advertising campaigns for the next 30 years. Over the course of her career, Ellen has photographed Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Rihanna amongst other work with Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Dior.
Shining a spotlight on 5 of the most influential photographers in the fashion industry is only a start to the inspiration and skill that can be found in their work. Whether you are new to the fashion industry or have been around the block a few times, following the work of famous fashion photographers is key to understanding different styles, techniques, and influences.
Even the most influential and successful fashion photographers many times credit their inspiration to successful photographers that came before them – so consider this is great starting place to spark a creative fire for your next fashion photography endeavor.
Annie Leibovitz
Annie is a household name in America, at least up until the early 2000’s thanks to her mix of fashion photography and cultural relevant subjects and topics. She’s had quite the career and is known mostly for her photos of celebrities in intimate situations. She famously took a polaroid of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, (that you may recognize) right before Lennon was trajectory killed. She started her career as a staff photographer for Rolling Stone Magazine in the 1970’s and moved on to being a prominent photographer for Vanity Fair in the 1980s.
She’s most recently probably been recognized for her fantastic Disney Series for the “Year of a Million Dreams” campaign. Annie is also notable as a photographer who has had some financial troubles over the years and famously sold the rights to most of her work in order to pay off loans. While this blog isn’t one for giving life advice, it does show that photography is just as much of an art as a business and it’s tricky for an artist to be both, a lesson that I’m sure Annie and many of her colleagues have thought about when they heard of her misfortune.
Annie believes there is no such thing as “objectivity” and works to prove this by capturing her subject’s personality and inner life through photography. She credits Richard Avedon as one of the main influencers of her work.
Tim Walker
I was obsoletely enthused by Tim Walkers work when I first found out about his photographs because of his pure artistic execution using practical effect and beautiful sets to create fantastical environments right in-camera. It’s a testament to Tim Walker’s longevity that he photographed for Vogue for nearly a decade. Walker started his career in 1994 as a photographic assistant in London and then moved to assist Richard Avedon whom we’ve mentioned previously on the blog. When he was 25 he shot his first story for Vogue and has been a staple of the industry since that time.
Recently, Walker has been diving deeper into turning his photographic work into cinematic worlds, experimenting with short films and stories that are still based within his fantastical world and share his vivid imagination and attention to detail for his craft. If you haven’t checked out his work, I would highly recommend you do so for a little inspiration as to what photography can achieve when left to the creative muse.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Bresson is on of the original black and white photographers who has had quite the interesting life to say the least. Born in France, Bresson first gravitated toward painting and surrealism before discovering a camera and a passion for still photography.
In 1940, Bresson was taken as a prisoner of war and ended up escaping to photograph the liberation of Paris in 1945. He is famously quotes as saying that his “camera is like a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant which, in visual terms, questions and decides simultaneously. It is by economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression”.
Later in his life, he returned to drawing and painting but has received numerous awards and accolades, often sited as an inspiration for many portrait, street and fashion photographers that rose to prominence in the 20th century. He died in 2004 at the age of 96.
Deborah Turbeville
Deborah Tubeville is a beautiful soul and one of my favorite female photographers of the 20th century. Her photos have a very distinct look and feel that is akin to color grading with pastel or sepia tones. They also tend to have a bit of a grainy or blurry definition to them. Her style is widely considered to be the birthplace of a more brooding and dark sensual side of fashion photography and she’s certainly someone who has been a huge inspiration for me personally.
She’s the first one to really nail the whole dreamy, female empowerment, edgy archetype that has now become prominent in popular photo and film work. Note that her famous “bath house” image, was at the time of it’s publication considered extremely controversial for it’s apparent sexual overtones. By today’s standards, it seems fairly tame which shows you how liberating and open minded the public has gotten toward swimwear photography and the female expression of beauty.
Irving Penn
Irving Penn joined Vogue as an assistant art director with no intentions of becoming a fashion photographer. While there, he was asked to take some still lifes for the magazine, and just like that he took off. He became one of Vogue’s top photographers for 60 years.
He focused on simplifying his subjects by using plain backgrounds that showcased the clothes. He had a certain attention to detail where he would focus on the dress and the shape it was creating, arranging it just so. He also had a love for portraiture that came into his fashion projects by showcasing the playfulness of his model’s personalities.
He is known for saying, every photograph no matter the subject is equally important.
Patrick Demarchelier
After developing a reputation as a successful fashion photographer in France, he moved to New York with his girlfriend without knowing any English.
Patrick said, “I have no formal qualifications, just the school of life. I learned most by just taking pictures; a lot of pictures. I've made plenty of mistakes, but it's often from your mistakes that you learn most. Being a photographer is like being an athlete. You must practice every day."
He became the personal photographer of Diana, Princess of Wales, who wanted him after seeing one of his photographs on the cover of Vogue. He was the first non-British photographer for the royal family.
His favorite subject to photograph was his dachshund, Puffy. People would assume it was the princess or someone famous, but no, just his dog. Perhaps he was in a similar camp with Penn who believed every photograph is equally important no matter the subject.
Nick Knight
Nick Knight is the director of SHOWstudio, a website created from the idea that the photographer benefits from showing the entire creation process of a photo rather than just the final product.
Knight has continuously challenged conventional beauty standards. He will work on controversial issues such as racism, ageism, disability, and fat-ism.
His work has been on 36 covers of Vogue magazine, and he has worked on numerous advertising campaigns for big fashion houses such as Louis Vuitton.
Herb Ritts
Herb Ritts is known for his black and white high contrast pictures. He seamlessly brought together art and commercial photography and created a new style that was instantly praised.
He took a lot of photos outside and LA beaches were a favorite spot.
He was self-taught and really just thrown into the front of the fashion world scene when he took a picture of his friend at an LA petrol station. The picture was found in three big publications in one month. He went on to make huge strides in the fashion photography world. He liked clean lines and loved drawing inspiration from classic Greek sculptures.
Zhang Jingna
Zhang Jingna brings together Asian aesthetics with Western art styles creating unique images for fashion photography. Her works have appeared in Vogue, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar. Her images are full of romance and fantasy.
Her current projects are an Asian-themed fantasy series, a portrait photography course, and the Motherland Chronicles artbook.
Ryan McGinley
Ryan McGinley’s early photographs of kids messing around were inspired by graffiti. He is also into queer culture and skateboarding.
He has graphic design training that influences his attention to composition and the process of editing his pictures. Though he takes action-oriented pictures that are not often overly structured. His attention is on documenting something that happened in the moment.
He focuses on fun images. He says his pictures are not a depiction of his life but more a documentation of what he wishes his life was full of. They are a fun fantasy life that he has captured.
He was the youngest artist to have a show at the Whitney Museum in 2002. His work has been in Dazed, and Confused, Vice, Index, The Fader, Dutch, and The New York Times Magazine.
Javier Vallhonrat
Javier Vallhonrat is a fashion photographer with amazing attention to detail. His use of light to create stunning images is one thing he is known for. He grew up in Spain and was introduced to photography by his father.
Today, he continues to shoot for Vogue in a variety of countries as well as Flair Magazine, and Mixte. He teaches creative photography at universities in Spain.
Lachlan Bailey
Lachlan Bailey is a fashion photographer living in New York City. I wanted to include him because he is a personal contemporary favorite of mine. He is influenced by the greatest examples of cinematography. He has a sophisticated and intimate style.
He works with a lot of advertising clients such as Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Kors, and Jimmy Choo. He has appeared in Vogue, Holiday Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal
Tyler Mitchell
Tyler Mitchell grew up in Georgia where he got his start in ninth grade teaching himself how to make skateboard videos. At 20 he published his first book called “El Paquete” after visiting Cuba. It documents skateboarding life and the architecture there.
He has been known for documenting expressions of black life referred to as “Black utopic vision”. He is best known for his cover of Beyonce for the cover of Vogue magazine.
Steven Klein
Very different from some of the previous photographers we have discussed, Steven Klein is known for capturing his models with a sense of dread. He draws on ideas of hypersexuality, violence, and cyberpunk.
He says that his images have a sense of “sealed veneer” that gives a feeling that you can’t get in. His most famous picture was of Brad Pitt portraying his character in Fight Club. He has been used by many fashion designers as well as musicians.
Mario Testino
Mario Testino is a very well known fashion photographer. His style is to capture his models in moments of engagement and expression. He wants to get away from the vacant eyes subject of many contemporary photographers. He says he tried to make his photographs look effortless as if they just exist.
He is known for photographing t.he royal family. His most famous photos are images of Princess Diana the year of her death in 1997.
His work has been in Vogue, Vanity Fair, and GQ. He has also worked on advertising campaigns for Gucci, Chanel, and Versace.
Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott (Mert and Marcus)
Mert and Marcus have been a photography duo for over 20 years. They met in London in 1994 and their first shoot together landed on the cover of Dazed and Confused magazine.
Their mark is full of exaggerated color and light. They have been featured in Vogue, Self Service, LOVE, Vanity Fair, and Document Journal. They have also shot advertising campaigns for many luxury brands including Calvin Klein, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton.
They have said that selling a product cannot be all about the sale. You need to present the product unconventionally, creating art inspired by a product. Finding that creative angle and coming at each product uniquely.
Steven Meisel
Steve Meisel works for many different fashion magazines including Interview and Vogue. He has done advertising campaigns for Prada, Versace, Valentino, Dolce and Gabbana, Louis Vuiiton, and Calvin Klein.
He has been a powerful addition to the fashion world. He used his influence to create an issue of Vogue that only showed black models. He says that his favorite projects are the ones that allow him to say something. The ones he has a minute to think about and that end up being the most controversial. He likes saying something a bit more than just a beautiful woman in a dress, which he loves, but it is not the same end goal as when he gets to make a statement.
