Photography - Commercial

Commercial photography

“There can be little argument that in modern capitalist societies the camera has proved to be an absolutely indispensable tool for the makers of consumer goods, for those involved with public relations and those who sell ideas and services. Camera images have been able to make invented ‘realities' seem not at all fraudulent and have permitted viewers to suspend disbelief while remaining aware that the scene has been contrived.”

(Naomi Rosenblum, A World History of Photography , 1989)

At first photography was only used as a painting substitute. Advertisers used photographs only when there was a need to lecture the customer on the benefits of the product. It is after the First World War that the commercial photography industry started to see the benefits of using photos to enhance a marketing campaign because of mainly one reason. Photos can evoke emotions within a person without saying much.

This change came about in the early 19 th Century and adds agencies started to employ copywriters, art directors, psychologists, and account executives to agency staffs. The New York Art Directors Club, founded in 1920, soon sponsored exhibitions, awards, and publications, setting a pattern for similar clubs internationally.

After the Second World War, there was a tremendous growth in the amount of money allocated for advertising; consequently, its institutional structure grew, with new agencies and publications. The glamour and elegance that often characterized pre-war images of women were supplanted by depictions of conventional gender roles and middle-class family life.

Commercial photography has long had a significant (though often unacknowledged) place in the history of photography. The advertising industry turned to photography when it discovered the photograph's power to convey the joys and benefits of consumerism. Advertising agencies, clients, and magazine editors sought work by Steichen, Penn, Avedon, and others because they recognized their distinctive personal visions as effective selling tools.

Commercial photography remains the dominant advertising medium; and recent scholarly study of advertising photography has helped develop a more complex understanding of the diversity within modernist photography. Today it is almost unthinkable that there was ever an effective add campaign where photography was not used. As the advertising agencies developed their style of add campaigns so came about the ever growing higher expectations of consumers.

This phenomenon constantly push advertisers and advertising agencies to explore different types of avenues that can be used to top the photograph, audio and video combinations and 3D animation. Our only limitation is our imagination. The advertising industry is long still keeping an open eye on the horizon for the next breakthrough in presentation mediums that will stretch their abilities to new heights.

1021 media and design is a fast moving company that continually make use of the newest industry developments and find new and innovative uses for them, and rightly so because advertisers sets the new and upcoming trends for the future by means of bringing it into our homes as an achievable reality. Come and see us before you start with your add campaign development.

Contact Information

1021 Media and Design 82B, Aspen Crescent Zwartkops Centurion 0157 South Africa 012 663 8661 http://www.1021.co.za Mobile phone: 083 281 0909 Fax: 0866 333 248 Email address: info@1021.co.za Description: Website Design and Development, Online Marketing, Graphic Design, Multimedia, Photography, 3D Categories: Website Designer