Combine your love of fashion and photography into a career

Who took those incredible photographs that you love in your favorite fashion magazines or the coolest online clothing store? What do you need to do to be that person behind that camera? How can you enter that type of career with its world of creativity, excitement and exotic travel?

If you have a passion for photography AND fashion – you can have a career in both! Fashion photography, one of the many avenues of comercial photography, has become a career that radiates energy and originality. This field requires creativity and innovation, ability to set and capture a mood, the ability to work with people and constant attention to artistic detail. And it won’t keep you chained to a desk, as fashion photographers can travel the world to remote locations for a particular client or photo shoot or simply in search for inspiration.

Your role as a fashion photographer is to create a visual story to take a fashion designer’s creations to the public and spark interest in new styles and trends in fashion.

So, what does it take to pursue such a glamorous career?

Here a few helpful tips from professional photographers of things they wish they learned when they were preparing for a careerl:

1. Stay true to who you are as a photographer and as a human being. Constantly challenge yourself and don’t get complacent. Ryan Pfluger

2. Broaden your horizons and don’t just study fashion photography. Educate yourself on video, editing, sound, lighting, web design, graphic design and PR. It’s a competitive job market out there, so having this knowledge under your belt upon graduation will be very beneficial. Robert Seale

3. Continue to make new work, even if you feel like you are in a slump. Come up with new projects and see them through. Then post this work on social media, go to openings, add to your portfolio, etc. You want as many eyes as possible to see your work. Jobs can come from the strangest places and so you want to always be sure you are staying visible. Elizabeth Weinberg

4. Allot some time for yourself to work on a personal project. Rid your mind from questioning whether an editor is going to like it. If it’s something you care about, then it will keep your creativity and inspiration flowing and ultimately, attract the right type of clients you would want to work for in the future. Ami Vitale

All of these photographers are known for their excellence and for redefining visual culture, art and beauty. But, like other artistic occupations, fashion photography is a competitive field. And it’s more than learning to use your camera. You’ll need focused education to hone your personal artistic sensibility and technical skills.

An art collge, such as PCA&D, will purposely ecourage its students to focus on the concerns these photograhers have: how to stary true to your art; how to broaden your horizons; how to keep visible; and  how to keep progressing.

To really start a career in photography, an art school provides you all the tools you need in a creative hands-on environment. At PCA&D, students discover how craft and vision are inextricably bound, and develop strong visual skills and knowledge of traditional, digital and experimental photographic processes and video.

PCA&D also provides a required internship to help you make contacts within the industry. These professional opportunities, in addition to coursework, prepare students for a rewarding life after graduation. Catapult your fashion photography career in the right direction by attending the right art school.