It’s not just a dance move invented by Madonna; it’s the world’s most influential fashion magazine. For over 100 years Vogue magazine has been making an art of fashion photography. What began as a weekly publication of where to buy fashions has become a worldwide phenomenon, with publications in twenty different countries and a circulation of 1.2 million. Today Vogue is seen as the premier job for anyone looking to get into the field of fashion photography.
reputation for cutting edge fashion and amazing photography comes from its combination of cutting edge editorials and dazzling art photography and portraiture. Trends and inventions on the stylization of fashion photography comes from the many great staff photographers Vogue has employed over the years; names like Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton and Annie Leibovitz.
Throughout its lengthy history, Vogue has seen many changes in format and presentation. Circulation surged during the Depression and WWII, and again in the ‘60s when then Editor-in-chief Dianna Vreeland shifted the magazine’s focus to the sexual revolution engaging America’s youth culture. The ‘70s saw the magazine becoming a little boring, dubbed the “beige” years, when Grace Mirabella ran the magazine.
Then in 1983, Anna Wintour became Editor-in-chief and she single handedly revamped the magazine’s image. By combining haute couture with affordable fashions, Anna made the magazine (and fashion trends themselves) more accessible to a wider audience. Anna Wintour’s power in the fashion world is unprecedented, with the ability to make or break a designer or photographer’s career with just a nod.
Under Wintour’s watch the magazine has contributed to rebooting not only the American economy, but also emerging economies in other countries, while contributed to countless charitable organizations. A fine example is Fashion’s Night Out, a worldwide fashion retail sales event where half the proceeds are given to charity. Vogue also uses fashion to reflect the political discourse of hot issues, such as women’s rights, social equality and world poverty. In the aftermath of 9/11, Vogue took steps to uplift the women of Afghanistan by using the burqa, recently demonized by the media, in fashion spreads.
Currently Vogue employs the industry’s most talented photographers, including Arthur Elgort, Craig McDean, Ellen Von Unwerth, Steven Meisel and Steven Klein. These photographers continue the tradition of making fine arts style photography available for view to the masses; inspiring generations of new fashion and fine arts photographers cover after cover, issue after issue, and year after year.
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