Pockets need to be shown and why do runway models look bored all the time?
Anna isn’t a stranger to this site. We teamed up last summer to do a beach fashion photo session which is a high-water mark in my career. She divides her time between the coasts which allows us to team up from time to time. This time we decided on doing street fashion photography. We picked a vibe, blocked off a date on the calendar (with a backup date in place in case of bad weather), and made plans.
What is street fashion? There are several genres of fashion photography/modeling. Street fashion, to me anyways, focuses on what real people could wear in real world situations. The outfits are styled to match the environment and conditions. Urban street fashion, in contrast, is a lot more edgier and in your face. You can see an example of that here.
In this case, we wanted to show off outerwear and accessories. Which was perfect considering the weather was cool and cloudy on the day of the session.
Anna, as always, came prepared. She styled a couple outfits that were just spot-on perfect. No detail was left out from the glasses to the boots and everything in between. We even used her puppers, Sunshine, for a few of the images.
One of the goals of fashion photography/modeling is to show the fit and flow of the outfit. Bring it to life. Show how it moves. Show off its features. The biggest one, to me anyways, is “Does it have pockets”? If it does, then there will always be a image or two of a hand in a pocket.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Yes, but Anna looks amazing, too. Why aren’t you talking about her?”. Yes, I fully agree that Anna does look absolutely stunning in these images. They wouldn’t be nearly as successful if she wasn’t in them. But the truth is, when it comes to fashion, it’s all about the outfits. If you are spending more time looking at the model than the fashion, then I have failed.
Have you ever wondered why the runway models always have blank expressions and look straight ahead when they walk? Because, if they do something to stand out, like smile, then you are looking at their face and not the designs they are wearing. That’s a fail. Their job is to remain blank so you focus on what they are wearing.
Their job is to show off the fit and flow of the design. Capture the mood with a simple gesture or movement. That’s where awesome models, like Anne, stand out. They can do that seemingly effortlessly.
Anna Mide is an LA-based model and you can see more of her work here. She is represented by Gray Models and Talent when she’s on the East Coast and by Peak Models when she’s out west.
Mark Knopp is a photographer with over 40 years of experience behind a camera and teaching photography. He is based in Yorktown and covers Hampton Roads, Richmond and beyond. Contact him at mknopp1(at)cox.net to book your photo session or for photography/modeling lessons.
Photography by Mark K 