Fashion photography in high-end fashion magazines: editorial photography versus advertising photography. Ethical limits

Abstract

Potography plays a key role in fashion magazines. In this type of publications, also called feminine, images occupy a privileged position. One of the main reasons is that fashion needs to generate desire and enthusiasm: it always has to go a step further because its essence is aspiration, and this component of dream and seduction can be effectively transmitted through a photograph. Likewise, fashion is a trend: it is synonymous with constant change and the photographs, because of their immediacy and instantaneous characteristics, adapt to that sense of transience that fashion requires. Through this article, we intend to point out the differences between the photography taken for a fashion editorial and fashion advertising photography, based on the fact that both have fashion and photography in common and that both are subject to commercial interests. Finally, the ethical limits of fashion photography will be addressed.