Fashion imagery and society, during the time period leading up to fashion photography's creation, will be explored and discussed to contextualise the founding and establishment of fashion photography.
Magazines have been used to communicate fashion to consumers since the early 18th century. One of the first popular UK magazines was The Ladies' Diary (below), published from 1704 to 1841. The cover reads, “Containing many Delightful and entertaining Particulars, Peculiarity Adapted for the Use and Diversion of the Fair-Sex” (Perl 1979 p. 37). This highlights the divide of the sexes at this time.
Indeed, it was conventional for women to only read magazines tailored towards the female market. Additionally magazines such as The Female Tatler (1710) and The Lady’s Magazine (1770) were introduced, raising awareness of fashion among affluent and aspirational women (Graham 1937). As photography was not yet invented at this time fashion plates were used to convey the current fashions and attract consumers.
This lead to heightened spending throughout the 19th century. Hilton states that the Victorians were “obsessed with consumption” (Hilton 2004 p. 101) and concludes that wealth was seen as a benchmark of progress. Furthermore the Victorians regulated consumption by controlling activities deemed negative, for example drinking and street betting, and counterbalanced this by encouraging people to attend art galleries, botanical gardens and read more refined literature to improve their mind (Hilton 2004; Perl 1979). It was at this time more consumer based and pragmatic magazines were introduced to the Victorian consumer; a reflection of the societal changes taking place. This, teamed with the growing demand from consumers, lead to an increase in magazine advertising (Hutchison 2008). To accommodate this growth fashion plates were steadily used to communicate designs to the consumer, informing consumers of the latest styles and trends. These fashion plates informed the composition and presentation of early fashion photography therefore they share similar characteristics (as seen below).
Vogue has dated the earliest fashion photography back to 1856 (Fior 2014) and french photographer Adolphe Braun is claimed to be the first fashion photographer. This legacy is a result of the 288 photographs he published of aristocrat Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione (below). Despite this, other sources claim that Adolph De Meyer (1868) is the first fashion photographer. Fashion photography is subjective and recognition of what constitutes fashion photography can be debated. Consequently different interpretations of the first fashion photograph and claims of the first fashion photographer exist.
Later in the century magazines such as Harper Bazar (1867) and Vogue (1892) utilised fashion photography as a means to present clothes to their readers. Vogue has pioneered fashion photography and has “launched some of the greatest fashion photographers”. Indeed, the earlier mentioned, Adolphe De Meyer found photographic fame working for Vogue along with many other pioneering fashion photographers at this time, inclusive of Horst P. Horst and George Hoyningen-Huene. Adophe De Meyer was the first staff photographer for Vogue, dating back to 1913, and is claimed to be “an arbiter of taste and trends who immortalised the first three decades of twentieth-century society and shaped the genre of fashion photography” (Vogue 2014).
To conclude fashion photography quickly followed the introduction of photography itself and was a natural progression from fashion plates. Today these original fashion photographs are still regarded as an inspirational resource, as are the pioneering photographers.
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