Fashion photography is a popular genre of fine art photography that is dedicated to showing fashionable clothing and other fashion items. Generally, fashion photography is best done for fashion magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, Elle or Glamour. The main aim of fashion photography is to catch the viewers’ attention and interest. It gives them an idea of what is hot and in fashion at the moment. With the current economic recession, many people have started taking more interest in fashion photography.
A fashion photographer should be able to comprehend and handle different lighting situations such as in the studio, outdoors, dimly lit interiors, twilight and low light. Lighting setups include shooting from long range, telephoto, shallow depth of field and fast continuous focus. Photographers should be able to apply lighting effects such as graduated toning, shadows and lighting effects. Many magazines require fashion photography courses before they allow models to participate.
To become a professional photographer, one needs to have enough experience, talent, creativity and determination. Most of these attributes are learned during formal training and classroom instruction. The better the quality of your photographs, the more opportunities you would find in high fashion magazines. To be able to accomplish this, you should have a good eye for colours, light and the ability to isolate subjects from your surroundings.
In order to have a successful career in fashion photography, it is important to have an understanding of the different types of images ranging from portraits, portrait fashion, fashion, celebrity glamour, photo journal, product photography and others. You will find there are many subgenres within each of these types as well.
For example, there is celebrity glamour, which includes photographs of stars such as the likes of Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Paris Hilton. Portraits are also considered a type of fashion photography and come in various styles like still life, portrait, scrapbook and so on.
Even though this article is an attempt to categorise photography genres, it doesn’t mean there aren’t other types of images that fall into these categories that may be of interest to you. Different types of fashion photography courses will provide you with a better understanding of the different types of images and genres that may interest you. By studying a variety of different types of images, a more well-rounded image comes forth that can be of interest to many tastes.
Here are some renowned fashion photographers of India you must take inspiration from.
1. A.Rrajani
A.Rrajani is a famous fashion photographer in India who started at the early age of 16 in 2000. He has now successfully completed 21 years of working as a professional fashion, portfolio, celebrity and advertising photographer from Mumbai, India. He has worked with Gladrags, Indian Princess, Next Door Diva and so on.
He has also done shoots for designers including Tarun Tahiliani, Peacock Bride, Globus, Aza, Kimaya, Rohit Bal, Rocky S, Shantanu & Nikkil, Vinegar, Archana Kochhar, Latin Quarters, James Ferreira, Bombay Electric, Adarsh Gill, Anamika Khanna, Amara, Priya Kataria Puri, Anand G, Neha Agarwal, Ensemble, Melange, Si Branche, 109 Degree F, Kazo, Ananya, Azeem Khan, Collezioni Moda, Sattva, Vanheusen (V), Guapa Chica, Madame, Mufti, Gant, Tangerine and many more.
He has worked for Anupam Kher’s picture case book as well as brands including Skechers, Panasonic Appeal, Amway Attitude, Micromax Mobile, Dr Purnima, Blue Ocean Resort & Spa, Shangrilla Resort, Go Air, Honda, Naturino, Britannia, Bombay Dyeing, Bombay Realty and much more.
A.Rrajani has also been part of famous celebrity shoots including Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonu Sood, Vivek Oberoi, Ravi Kishan, Jaya Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Gulshan Grover, Prateik Babbar, Gracy Singh, Aarya Babbar, Kiran Kumar, Mukesh Rishi, Vrajesh Hirjee, Mukesh Khanna, Rakesh Bedi, Shakeel Siddique, Khayali and Siddharth Koirala, Pawan Malhotra, Deepshika Nagpal, Kainaat Arora, Poonam Pandey, Suchitra Pillai, Mandala Sharma, Kawaljit Singh, Sanchita Choudhary, Karan Singh Grover, Sakshi Khanna, Tanishq Reddy, Linda Arsenio, Deepti Sati, Rashmi Rajput, Charlotte Claire, Chandini Sharma, Ravi Awana, Snehal Rai, Shruti Kanwar, Khushboo Tawde, Monica Sharma, Bobby Layal, Parul Duggal, Vishal Gandhi, Sujay Reu, Meherzan Mazda, Avika Gor, Parul Chauhan, Leena Jumani, Gaurav.s.bajaj, Aasiya Kazi, Sakshi Choudhary, Neha Narang, Nikki Tamboli, Avani Modi, Reem Shaikh, Jas Binag, Shambhavi Sharma, Smita Bansal, Tara Sharma, Kanan Malhotra, Vishal Gandhi, Nikita Sharma, Tanvi Vyas, Shafaq Naaz, Falaq Naaz, Raashul Tandon, Nausheen Sardar Ali, Anushka Manchanda, Carol Gracias, Amir Dalvi, Jennifer Winget and Zohaib Siddiqui.
If you are looking for a high-level, professional fashion portfolio, A.Rrajani is the person you need to talk to. He delivers perfection in his Bollywood shoots, fashion shows, celebrity and portfolio photography. Undoubtedly, he is one of the renowned fashion photographers in Mumbai for glamorous shoots.
2. Suresh Natrajan
Suresh Natarajan is a well-known famous fashion photographer who has made a significant contribution to the fashion industry in the past two decades. His work is a true inspiration for upcoming photographers. Suresh was born in Kerala and immigrated to Canada in 1985. He graduated from the Ryerson University in Toronto. He has a strong passion for photography and so, completed his one-year diploma in TV production at Maclean Hunter TV, Toronto.
Suresh is known for his versatility and his expertise in working even under difficult conditions. From big corporate names to fashion editorials, he’s been creating magic with images for over 20 years. He worked as an Assistant Director in two major Indian feature film projects as well. His work can be found here.
3. Jatin Kampani
Jatin Kampani, one of the leading fashion photographers, gained popularity at an early age for his work. He has a vast knowledge of rich quality photography and was listed in the Top 200 Ad Photographers Worldwide because of his photographs featured in photography journals and fashion magazines around the world. He has also worked for some high brands including Loreal, Sony, Citizen, etc.
4. Atul Kasbekar
Atul Kasbekar is a famous fashion photographer and Bollywood film producer. He is recognised for his Kingfisher Calendar shoots. He was also the honorary chairman of the Photographer’s Guild of India. He also owns a celebrity management company named Bling Entertainment Solution.
5. Tarun Khiwal
Tarun Khiwal is one of the top 10 famous fashion photographers in the Indian fashion industry. He was awarded Hasselblad Masters Award by the Hasselblad Foundation. The Delhi-based photographer’s creative shoots can be found in several magazine spreads. He is a role model to many new photographers and his studio has been home to individuals of many nationalities who have come and successfully assisted or interned with him.
6. Rohan Shrestha
Rohan Shrestha is an Indian-born photographer with a Nepalese origin who lives and works in Mumbai and New York. Being the son of one of India’s pioneer photographer Rakesh Shrestha, his photographs have made the cover of several prominent magazines. Also, he has had the experience of working with many celebrities including Kareena Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Deepika Padukone, etc.
7. R Burban
R Burman is a well-known fashion photographer in India who has possessed the passion for photography since his childhood. He graduated from Brooks Institute of Photography in California, USA, and worked as a professional with popular names including Steven Klein and Mark Seliger in New York and Los Angeles for five years. Post that, he returned to India and started working as a fashion photographer with Vogue magazine. Ever since, he has been working with renounced fashion magazines in India.
8. Subi Samuel
Subi Samuel is one of the leading commercial fashion photographers in the Indian fashion industry. He has glamorised covers for a lot of popular fashion magazines and worked for many popular brands. He has been awarded many times for his skills.
9. Avinash Gowariker
Avinash Gowariker, a well-known fashion photographer dropped out of his first year and opted for photography as his career. His work has been backed by celebrities including Ashutosh Gowariker, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan. Avinash has also worked for PETA, Filmfare and D’Decor.
10. Daboo Ratnani
Daboo Ratnani is synonymous with fashion photography in India. He is known for his annual calendar starring Bollywood celebrities that he started in 1999. He is not only a photographer but has also appeared on the judging panel of shows including India’s Next Top Model Season 1 and 2. He has been on the jury for the Miss India contest in 2000 and worked with many celebrities in the film industry.
Conclusion
The fashion industry is growing and the need for artists will never end. You too can look at fashion photography as a career and take inspiration from these professional faces.