So You Want To Be A Fashion Photographer

You want to be a fashion photographer? Fashion shooting can offer a rewarding career full of exciting opportunities and experiences. The truth is that it does not come easily. There are countless more opportunities in glamour and wedding photography. Most fashion magazines and modeling agencies prefer working with photographers that are experienced or have a reputation that is already established. Many times the quality of the photography is not as important as the star power of the person behind or in front of the camera.

This is not meant to discourage anyone from choosing this path. Hanging a lantern on the truth makes it easier to face, or at least more difficult to ignore.
The first key to success is to honestly assess your talent. I am not talking about your photographic talent. I am talking about something far more important. Your marketing talent. Is marketing something that you do well? Do you have a natural sense of what is marketable and how to best achieve marketing success? If your answer is not an unquestioned “Yes!” than you are going to struggle in the fashion arena.

Fashion is about what? Art? No. Looking great? No, believe it or not. Fashion is about sales. Sales to who? Young people. What do young people buy? They buy “cool”. Catalog Photography is about sales to the masses. Have you ever seen clothes that come into style that really are ugly, but they are an accepted trend and people wear them for a season anyway. It isn’t about beauty, or style or looking good. It is about sales. The same goes for fashion photography. The truth is that fashion is generally about the “cool” factor. Is the photographer as trendy as the clothes? Are you ready to be, or even able to be what is “cool” in the moment?
These are uncomfortable facts. Any photographer that has worked in the fashion industry has seen it. Someone with no talent becomes all the rage for a short period of time. That photographer comes and goes very quickly. The trick is staying power. There are an extremely small few photographers that last in the fashion world. How do they do it? They learn how to adapt and market themselves differently as time goes by. The know that the “new kid” is gonna be cooler by nature, so they have to find ways to make their age become part of what is cool about them.

“Huh?”

Think about it. Sean Connery won People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” tag at age 59. How? He understood how to market himself. His age was not something he hid. He embraced it, and used it. He became that experienced man, with character and strength. The average age of the other winners is over 20 years younger. So much for character and experience. Fashion is about youth , and more importantly “cool”. Selling the clothes that the average 50 year old wears is NOT fashion. The catalog industry is radically different and offers many more opportunities.

So, back to marketing for fashion. Like with any marketing you identify your target market. Is it modeling agencies? Fashion magazines? Who is running these companies? What are they like? Do you fit what they are buying?

I learned this lesson the hard way in South Beach many years ago. I walked into a modeling agency and they were not interested in working with me even though they said they liked y work. In a horribly refreshing moment the booker let the truth slip out of their mouth. “Your work is great, but you don’t look like a photographer. You look like a guy from Colorado.” The next day I put a bandana over my head and changed my nice clothes for jeans and an old t-shirt and returned to that same agency. “Much better! Let me send you some models to test.”

This is an extreme example, but make no mistake that when you choose fashion you are choosing an industry that thrives on being trendy. Are you prepared to enter that field and ride the trends? Be honest with yourself. It is an amazingly fun and exciting field to operate in. You meet celebrities and go to fantastic parties and see some wonderful things. Just understand the facts when you enter the arena and be ready for the ride. It is rewarding, and uncomfortable.
Now, stop reading and get your marketing plan together.