The Rise of Photographers at Fashion Shows and How it is Affecting the Industry

Fashion Photography  •  Photography Tips

If there’s one thing that’s certain in the world of photography, it’s that the number of photographers has increased exponentially with the digital revolution. Since technology has made photography more accessible, the industry has experienced a pronounced rise in interest. In the short film below, aptly titled Take My Picture, Garage Magazine tells the story of how this growth has affected the fashion industry with two starkly different accounts on its becoming:

Tim Blanks, a fashion journalism icon, watched the boom of photographers and photo bloggers come to birth in the fashion industry and though he admits the attention was somewhat charming in the beginning, he has decidedly become frustrated with the entire phenomenon.

On the hand, many fashion designers are embracing the change, if not welcoming it. Some see it as a way for up and coming talent to be discovered, and a toll to market their own lines.

One of the downfalls, however, is that covering major fashion events, such as New York Fashion Week, has become like “trench warfare” to quote fashion photographer, Phil Oh. The over abundance of photographers all competing for the same image has become just that, an over abundance. These photographers, who generally specialize in street fashion, stalk the streets outside of fashion events waiting for high fashion to cross their paths. And they usually don’t have to wait long. The audience this type of photography has developed has also created a new kind of fashionista: one who dresses very deliberately in hopes that one of the fashion paparazzi’s will take their photo.

“Everybody has a blog, everybody has a Facebook page, this, that, and everything. In a funny way it’s empowering, but it’s empowering  but it’s empowering in the way that reality tv is empowering. It elevates. It makes monsters. It doesn’t make gods, it makes monsters.”