Fashion Photography

When is an Image a portrait and when is it a fashion photograph?

I believe that there is a very strong difference between Fashion photography and portraiture. In my point of view, fashion photography is the use of models to act as a vessel for clothing and other items, the images taken can be considered to be superficial. There is usually a lot of post-production to the photographs, using image manipulation software and sometimes combining multiple images together for the desired results. Make-up is usually used in mass amounts, sometimes completely transforming the model being photographed, as well as lighting which can be used to either exaggerate or mask facial features. A fashion photograph can be considered to be a form of commercial advertising, it is used to promote a product or brand and is usually viewed in magazines such as vogue and Cosmopolitan. Models are usually depicted in fictional scenarios, wearing items of clothing that they would not normally dress in, and exaggerating or acting out the situations they are depicted in.

On the contrary, a portrait is usually an image that is intended to capture a snapshot of a persons character. It uses very little, if any editing and aims to depict the subject in a natural environment, outside of a studio, usually without the use of posing or props. Although lighting can be used to enhance the subjects emotions and facial expressions, it is not used to disguise anything on a subject. Portraiture photographers usually try to break through a persons front in order to depict their actual emotion.
Portraiture is not commonly used for commercial gain as it is more commonly used to depict something artistically. This can be seen in the work of Tony Vacarro, a photographer who always waited for the definitive moment to take a photo, he would come unprepared and not know who he was going to be photographing at the present time. One of his most famous photographs, is that of a German soldier who has returned home only to discover that his home and family are nowhere to be seen. This image perfectly captures the definition of portraiture as it captures a subject when they are at the most vulnerable and usually unaware that the photographer is there.

The two styles of photography rarely meet with one another, as they can be considered to be complete opposites of one another, whilst fashion photography relies more on a surreal and fictional approach, portraiture encompasses realism and spontaneity.