My Top 5: Fashion Photographers

This week at NTU I was given a research project to look at a range of fashion photographers. I was not familiar with many of the recommended ones on the list however, I enjoyed researching them and discovering new creatives and will be using them as inspiration for projects in the future. I have narrowed it down to my top 5. These are the people who's work I admire the most and the photographers who's careers interest me and motivate me to be like them one day. In reverse order...

5. Richard Avedon: The New York born fashion photographer Richard Avedon was one other the photographers who helped establish photography as a contemporary art form. His work mainly consists of portraiture, which he has done for many celebrities. His work has been featured in magazines such as Harper's BAZAAR and Vogue. Avedon was a fashion photographer from 1945-1965, his career then moving on to journalism, in which he was also successful. Avedon's style of photography is very linear, focusing on single moments. It is also very minimalistic, often using a white back drop. Many of his portraits are in black and white and use harsh lighting. This is very simple but that is what I like about his photographs. (Photograph - Arnold Schwarzenegger by R.Avedon)

4. Corinne Day: Corinne Day was a British born photographer born 1962 and died 2010. She was a self taught photographer, which I have a lot of respect for. Her style was very classic but she also displayed a modern twist to the photographs with the linear clarity created through the way she lights the photographs. She photographs in black and white but also in colour and developed a close relationship with Kate Moss throughout her career, who she photographed a lot for magazines such as Vogue. I admire the fact that she was a self taught photographer with a passion who made a career for herself. (Photograph - Kate Moss by Corinne Day )

3. Guy Bourdin: The Paris Born (1928) creative Guy Bourdin was a painter most of his life and then became a self taught photographer. His photography career stemmed from work in fashion houses where he developed an interest in fashion photography. He worked for major brands such as Chanel and his work was also featured in Vogue. His photographs swept away the standards of beauty and display his unconventional creativity. Bourdin often used double page spreads in magazines to tell a story. It is his stories and compositions of photography that I admire the most about his work.

( Photograph - Guy Bourdin 1954 - Brighton Fashion Week )

2. Nick Knight: Nick Knight OBE is a huge influencer in the fashion communication industry. As the founder of SHOWstudio.com, he was someone I was familiar with when completing this research task. The British born photographer challenges the national conventions of beauty through his abstract, contemporary style of photography. I admire his ability to experiment with new technology and how he constantly produces new and interesting creative concepts. Another feature of Knights photography which I particularly like is his collection of floral photographs. Flowers are commonly used by photographers and can be an overused prop however, the way that Nick Knight uses flowers makes them less traditional and more unique and a statement in his work. His fashion photography stands out to me as it is ahead of the times, in my opinion. His style is futuristic and one of a kind. ( Photograph by Nick Knight ).

1. Annie Leibovitz: It was very hard to rank these photographers but my favourite has to be Annie Leibovitz. Leibovitz is an American portrait photographer born in 1949. Her career has been phenomenal, as she worked for Rolling Stone magazine for many years and even photographed John Lennon the day he was assassinated. Leibovitz's career is one of the most fascinating to me along with her style of photography. I particularly like how she uses cool tones and darker lighting in her photography, creating a darker mood in her theatrical photographs such as the one for Les MIs and Disney's Cinderella (some of my personal favourites).

All of these photographers are creatives whose work I greatly admire for many reasons. I also look up to them in terms of their careers. Photography has always been a great interest of mine, however, I haven't explored the field of fashion photography to a great extent. That is something I am excited to explore through my course at NTU.