“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” – Coco Chanel
Editorial photography is an art form. It differs from commercial photography or fashion photography in that its purpose is to sell a story as opposed to a product or lifestyle. While there can sometimes be an overlap, editorial is more focused on the concept, and the artistry of telling a story or capturing a specific moment in time.
Commercial photography predominately sells a product and typically puts the emphasis on the product or service in question for promotional or marketing purposes. The styling, lighting, and art direction usually are designed around the merchandise or item to showcase individual designer pieces and highlight the brand. In fashion photography the focus is on the mood and styling of the image, and everything else in the picture is used to convey a trend or lifestyle. The styling, art direction and choice of aesthetics such as set, lighting and props tend to be more conceptual. Often fashion photography images fuse together the worlds of art and commerce, while also highlighting new clothes, a beauty product or accessories in a fantastical manner.
Editorial photography is designed to convey a theme, a mood or feeling, via a story and a highly stylised sequence of images. Editorial photos can document real life issues, events and human interest narratives. They are typically financed by a magazine or publication, and not by an individual advertiser. They can be used to support the written word by lending visual context, or as a standalone visual art piece conceived of perfect shots. Within editorial photography there are several genres including photojournalism, fashion, portrait, sports and landscapes. Fashion editorials often feature as full page or double spreadsheet in a magazine.
Fashion Editorial
Fashion editorial pieces are often considered to be edgy or non traditional. This is often achieved via a combination of intense model poses, non customary lighting and conceptual artistic direction consisting of extreme garment styling, makeup and hair. The choice of shooting location also plays a vital role in creating fashion editorial. While different clothing or looks might be used in each picture of the sequence, each of the chosen elements combine to depict a common visual thread throughout the spread. Fashion editorials can be shot outdoors or in a studio, be simplistic or very rich in colour and backdrop, be minimalistic or lavish in design. What is always common however, is the level of creativity and use of sharp composition in editorial work, that lends itself more towards art than either commercial or typical fashion photography.