The Most Famous Fashion Photographers of Our Time
Fashion photography as a genre of photo art emerged around the beginning of the 20th century, and during this time it managed to take a strong position among the genres of professional photography. Back in the 1920s, fashion photography began to supplement graphics in periodicals and advertising for all kinds of products and services. Today, no advertising campaign in the field of fashion, cosmetics, and even restaurants and casinos review can do without it. Additionally, the number of magazines filled with fashion photos is growing year by year. To take a closer look at this word of fashion photography, we have compiled a list of the best fashion photographers of today and what works have made them famous.
Annie Leibovitz
Annie Leibovitz or Anna-Lou – her Jewish name – was born on October 2, 1949 in the city of Waterbury, Connecticut. Such celebrities as Demi Moore, Bette Midler, and Sting got in front of her camera lens. The interesting element of her photography is that Annie’s authority allowed her to take pictures of these stars, in the nude. To please Annie Leibovitz, Arnold Schwarzenegger posed half-naked with a cigar in his mouth while riding a horse in Malibu. And the famous football player David Beckham showed his tattoos in an open cabriolet. If you recall all the works of Annie Leibovitz, you can recognize many famous musicians, athletes, actors and actresses.
Mario Testino
The British photographer of Peruvian origin is one of the most famous photographers of our time. He started his career in the late 80s: after meeting Carine Roitfeld, where he did his first shooting for French Vogue. More recently, he has worked on advertising campaigns of the most famous brands, photo shoots of almost all supermodels, actresses and performers, as well as author’s albums.
Markus Olsson
Markus Olsson is a rising star of fashion photography. Olsson was fascinated by this art form from an early age and after graduating from high school entered photography school. Markus then spent six years assisting leading Swedish photographers Kalle Stolz, Camille Akrans, and Mikael Jansson. He started his own career in 2005. Markus likes to play with light, resulting in sensual, almost fairy-tale images. He gives the model freedom of action in front of the camera and, watching, manages to catch unique moments. Markus can be called a productive photographer. Among his clients are Elle, Velvet, Tush, Bon, Arena, Vs. and S Magazine.
Will Davidson
Will Davidson is a fashion photographer from London. After studying for one year at SCA, Davidson decided to take up freestyle swimming. During this time, he met David Bailey and worked as a prime assistant for four years. At the same time, Davidson continued to be involved in numerous projects, including the publication of Location in 2004 and Democracy in 2005. In 2005, he collaborated with fashion designer Kim Jones to shoot a short film for Topman called Pop Life. Davidson is regularly featured in Muse, Rush, V Magazine, Dazed & Confused, and GQ Style. He is currently working on a book with the working title All the Cool Kids.
Victor Demarchelier
It is not difficult to understand Victor Demarchelier’s desire to become a photographer. The son of famous fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier, the younger Demarchelier practically grew up shooting for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue magazines. But he did not make the decision to follow in his father’s footsteps right away. As Viktor said in one of the interviews: “I used to receive cameras as a gift for Christmas, but I never thought of becoming a photographer.” And he added: “I never wanted to be one of those people who just do what their parents did. But after graduating from Vassar College with a degree in economics, I quickly realized that I didn’t want to work in a bank.” Demarchelier, Jr. began to work in the field of fashion photography and after three years was published in Vogue, Interview, Harper’s Bazaar, and 25 Magazine.
Solve Sundsbo
Fashion photographer Solve Sundsbo is “the only man who made her wear a snake”, Naomi Campbell says. This influential Norwegian, who lives in London, started his career as an assistant to Nick Knight. Today he is called an innovator in fashion photography and is published in all leading publications: Vogue, V Magazine, Pop, i-D, Dazed & Confused, Numéro, and Visionaire. It is worth noting that Solve himself is the author of a high-profile photo shoot for the V Magazine issue dedicated to full-figured models. He also shot commercials for such brands as Yves Saint Laurent, Hermes, Nike, Lancôme, MAC Cosmetics, and H&M.
David Lachapelle
David Lachapelle is one of the legends of modern photography. Often the careers of future stars begin modestly, but in the case of LaChapelle, this was not the case. At the age of 17, he had already been doing shoots for Interview magazine with the assistants of Andy Warhol himself. Later, the list of publications that worked with Lachapelle grew: from Vanity Fair and French and Italian Vogue to Rolling Stone and The New York Times Magazine.
Kai Zi Feng
Born in Shanghai, Kai had an early start to his career as an artist. Already at the age of 14, he became the lucky recipient of many awards, and exhibitions of this young talent were held in Japan, America and China. At the age of 24, Kai discovered the art of photography. Two years later, his works regularly appear on the pages of British Vogue, Vogue Italia, L’Uomo Vogue, Chinese Vogue, Vogue Nippon, and 10 Magazine. Kai Zi Feng is the author of advertising campaigns for Burberry, Aquascutum, Blumarine, Elie Saab, Thomas Burberry, and Shanghai Tang. The photographer currently lives in London.
Josh Olins
Josh Olins is one of the most sought-after photographers today. His works are published on the pages of Vogue, Dazed, V, Love, and Numéro. Take a look at Benetton’s and Topshop’s fall ad campaigns, this will be his. It is worth noting that Olins is particularly good at group photos. Many are surprised by Josh’s way of working: he is involved in all stages of creating a picture, supervises the work of stylists, make-up artists and hairdressers, considering it necessary to obtain a successful result. Living in London and New York, he draws inspiration even from long flights.
Fashion photography is now a key part of everyday commercial life, and there are many incredible photographers out there, however, those that we have mentioned here are some of the most notable for modern fashion photography.
