Task 1. Different Applications of Photography

Ben Holmes

Advertising IndustryThe Advertising Industry uses photography to help publish and sell their products. Photography is a way of graphic communication without using any written text, leaving it with no language barriers. Good examples of Advertising Photography are most alcohol companies. However photography is not always used to advertise positive things. The NHS are a company whom use this to its advantage with their campaign against smoking. When a photographer takes images for an advertisement they have to be clear about the message the company want to put across to the public. Different to Television advertisements, photography only has one image to sell their product so they have to make it count.

Fashion IndustryIn the fashion industry photography is used to create magazines, record fashion shows and advertise new products or trends. Shop window displays are designed to attract customers and draw them into shops with aesthetically pleasing images of their new, bright coloured clothing range. It is the photographers job to ensure their photos are eye catching and illustrate the product in the best light possible. More than often clothing production companies use the role of celebrities to increase the appeal to the target audience and make their products more desirable.

Music Industry

The music industry uses photography in many different ways. Music videos and Album covers are the main use of photography in this industry. Due to the music industry being so big, there are numerous album covers or specific images recognised throughout the whole world. Music photography is a change for artists to get their face seen and known to the public. Also is it used to promote festivals and concerts. A lot of music photographers go to festivals and gigs to take pictures during live shows ad use them in magazines and on websites to promote the band/DJ.

Sports Industry

Photography is used in the sports industry for to illustrate football magazines & websites such as Sky Sports or BBC Sport. Usually a photographer will attend a sporting event such as a Football match of a Formula 1 rave and take photographs of the competitors and document the action. Sport photographers must be at the top of their game in order to be successful in this industry due to massive events that occur once every year with millions of viewers. Their job is to capture important aspects of the game with clear sharp photographs. Some of the best sport photographers are people that manage to capture t facial expressions of the people taking part to show the emotions they are feelings while in the field.

Photo journalismA photo journalist would usually work for a news company or sometimes freelance. Their role is to look at news stories and take photographs to be shown on the news and also used in newspapers. They investigate stories and collect information, they then report back to the office and put together their story using the photographs. They may also work for a magazine or a website and would take different kids of photographs for new stories relating to those magazines. The main skills involve being able to tell a news story through photographs rather than just taking meaningless photographs, therefore photo journalist have to capture the whole story or parts of it through the use of images.

Fine Art PhotographyFine art photography works on the basis of photographers taking pictures purely for the way they naturally look. For example they would travel to scenic places with wonderful views and set up photo shoots and use the camera to create real life images. Different to other styles of photography, fine art photography doesn't have to sell a product / service or tell a story, the only thing it has to achieve is to look visually attractive. Photographers may go o different types of places to take photographs and also use a variety of techniques to create spectacular images. Abiding to the rules of photography such as Rule of Thirds and Depth of Field allow fine art photographers to take very effective and attractive photographs. Fine art photographers are usually self employed and attempt to sell their images to make a living.