In this post on the Comms Women platform, Sarah Vance Harrison, a student at the University of Alabama, College of Communication and Information Sciences, analyses an article by Karen de Perthuis on fashion photography published in Fashion Theory (Taylor & Francis).
In an age where taking and accessing photos is made easier through the use of phones and the internet, what constitutes a fashion photograph is changing. Information and fashion have spread quicker in the digital age, with fashion blogs serving as a source of commentary and influence with their use of photographs. Karen de Perthuis’ 2016 article “People in Fashionable Clothes: Street Style Blogs and the Ontology of the Fashion Photograph” explores the characteristics of fashion photography and whether the images used in street style blogs can be considered fashion photography.
The article first looks at the characteristics of traditional fashion photography. According to de Perthuis (2016), “The primary function of the fashion photograph is commercial” (p. 528). Fashion photography is meant to persuade and influence consumers to partake in the consumption of fashion. The traditional fashion system relies on driving commerce through staged photographs of models taken by experts. This exclusivity and expertise have led to a limit in what has been considered fashion photography.
Street style blogs started to emerge in the mid-2000s to serve as an escape from the commercialization of traditional photographs and put fashion in the hands of “real” people. Street style photographs portray individuals wearing their own personal clothing out in public. Everyone from celebrities to strangers can be captured in street style photography, and everyone from expert to amateur photographers can take such photographs. Streety style blogs provide a platform for conversation about fashion between bloggers and consumers, promoting more accessibility in the fashion industry. A notable example of a street style blog mentioned by de Perthuis is The Sartorialist by Scott Schuman, which is one of the first blogs to successfully break into the fashion industry. Started in 2005, Schuman’s blog allows readers to interact with posts and creates an open dialogue that pulls back the curtain on some of the mystery surrounding fashion photographs.
While they started as a counter to the elitism and exclusivity of the fashion industry, de Perthuis argues that street style blogs can also be commercial in nature like traditional fashion photographs. Some street style photographs present fashion in a seemingly authentic and candid way when they are, in reality, manufactured like a traditional fashion photograph. More and more street photography is now staged and part of scheduled shoots. Although many of these street style blogs are driving consumption and are not as impromptu as they once were, they still do so in a more personal manner than traditional fashion photographs. As de Perthuis (2016) says, the nature of a street style photography blog is a “process of observation, identification and instruction” (pp. 537-538). The conversations had on the comment sections of street style fashion photography blogs provide a way for consumers to give input and contribute to the fashion depicted.
Overall, de Perthuis’ article is insightful and provides an informative look into how street style blogs have evolved and changed the narrative around fashion photography. Her article challenges common notions surrounding fashion photography and encourages a closer examination of street style photographs. While street style blogs contribute to the commercialization of fashion, they also present fashion in a more give-and-take way. It remains to be seen whether street style blogs will transcend or fit into the scope of fashion photography.
Full Article Reference: de Perthuis, K. (2015). People in Fashionable Clothes: Street Style Blogs and the Ontology of the Fashion Photograph. Fashion Theory, 20(5), 523–543. https://doi.org/10.1080/1362704X.2015.1115656