For most fashion photographers work is done in a controlled environment where a whole team of people are dedicated to capturing that ultimate shot. This might be done in a studio or on location, but in either case hair and wardrobe stylists, making up artists and sometimes a host of others are on hand to ensure that what the photographer sees through his or her lens is as perfect as possible. And perhaps most importantly the model during such sessions is always keenly aware one perspective and one only. But what happens when you remove all of these control elements and put the subjects of fashion photography into the fast paced, chaos-filled settings of New York Fashion Week?
Needless to say, shooting a runway show is a beast of an entirely different color. Runway photographers have to zip around the city (or the Lincoln Center, as it were) from show to show, jostle for position in the pit, be on their feet for hours on end, and then pull all-nighters in order to be among the first to publish their photos online or to a photo service. Photographer Jodi Jones recounts her experiences of shooting fashion shows for a diary series on TheFashionSpot.com. Apparently, the pit is ferocious enough to drive drive a person to drugs.
"Suddenly, one of my esteemed co-photographers, "totally cool richard" started yelling at me for invading his space. I told him I was not shooting, and just talking before the show started. He started to flip out, and that's where I lost it
After a rocky start trying to mark my spots, I snapped and told him to "f" off, and it was only 90 minutes into the first day. Usually, I don't lose it until day 6... After making sure I had plenty of xanax on hand, I plunged into my first big show of the day."
Watch Jodi's vlog, which documents her fashion week day 1 experiences in the video below. The photographer's videos and diary notes give the gritty details of a job that some might think is all glitz and glamour. Better think again.
"We covered 7 shows last night at the Waldorf Astoria and that resulted in a total of 5,000 images, and it was already midnight," Jones says of covering couture shows in New York City. "All of them had to be touched up and done by morning. My intern Chris looked at me with droopy eyes and sex hair, saying 'That's f*cking crazy…' I knew I had 4 to 5 more hours of editing, and my head was already nodding off."
It's seems to be a somewhat thankless job. Whereas you might now names like Mario Testino or Stephen Klein (each of which shoot cushy magazine spreads and have front row seats reserved for them during fashion week), Jones toils away without much fanfare. This unspoken hierarchy probably made sense when the general public was far more likely to see a Testino photo than one by Jones - i.e. before the Internet and the boom of blog-driven fashion media. These days, however, runway photographs potentially get even more exposure than do fashion editorials. Because of the nature of the work, however,it's hard to distinguish one runway photographer's pictures from another's, which somewhat makes up for the disparity in recognition.
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