When Fashion Meets Fantasy

Photography is not just about capturing images from the real world, it’s also about envisioning a world that hasn’t existed hitherto. A world, where fairies prance around in flower gardens, where mermaids lead a secret life underwater and where forest nymphs hide behind magical trees. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?

- NITYAPRIYA KALIYATH

Fantasy Fashion Photography

Fantasy Photography, a sub-set of fine art photography, brings the fictional world to life. It breathes life into the characters and things we read about in fairy tales, see in movies or dream of in our imagination. This genre of photography allows you to reimagine stories or even give voice to your own from scratch. Like fine-art photography, the aim of Fantasy Photography is to visually express the photographer’s idea, message or emotions.

There are two ways to bring your fantasies to life – you can either create the exact fictional setting by choosing the perfect location, relying on dramatic hair, make-up and styling, and making use of complex props; or you can use your photo-manipulation skills to transfer your imagination from your mind’s eye onto the screen. If the idea you want to photograph is quite complex, then the first method mentioned earlier would prove highly expensive. On the other hand, if you plan to create the fantasy world with Photoshop, you’ll have to sharpen your post-processing skills.

Fashion Photography offers the most ideal platform to integrate fiction. When mixed with fantasy, you can weave together a strong narrative, especially for fashion editorials. Clubbed together, this style of photography is known as Fantasy Fashion Photography.

Tips for Fantasy Fashion Photography