01. What Is Editorial Photography? And Why Does It Matter?

There’s a good chance you’ve heard the phrase editorial photography before. Maybe you’ve seen it written underneath a photograph in a magazine, heard a model talk about an editorial shoot, or watched someone on Instagram say they’re “shooting editorial” and quietly wondered what on earth that actually means.

 

And honestly? Fair question.

 

Editorial photography can sound like one of those industry terms that makes something perfectly simple feel unnecessarily complicated. But at its core, editorial photography is about creating imagery with intention. It isn't simply about taking a photograph of somebody standing in front of a camera. It is about creating a visual idea, a mood, a story or a feeling and using photography to bring that idea to life.

 

That is what makes it so interesting.

 

A traditional portrait might be focused primarily on capturing the person in front of you: their face, their expression, their personality and the way they naturally look. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. A good portrait can be incredibly powerful. But editorial photography gives you another playground entirely. Instead of simply asking, “How do we photograph this person?”, we can start asking, “What are we trying to create?”

 

 

Suddenly, the conversation becomes much bigger. What are you wearing? What colours are we working with? Where should we shoot? How should the lighting feel? Do we want something dark and mysterious, soft and romantic, sharp and structured, dramatic, playful or completely unexpected? What should the photograph make someone feel when they see it?

 

And that is where editorial photography becomes a little bit magical.

 

It allows you to step outside what is considered conventional. You can create images that feel luxurious, quirky, dramatic, cinematic, mysterious or completely unlike anything you would normally have of yourself. You can give yourself that supermodel moment without needing to actually be a supermodel first.

 

And before anybody starts thinking, “Well, this sounds lovely, but I'm not a model,” let me stop you there.

 

You don't have to be.

You could be an upcoming model building your first portfolio. You could be a fashion student wanting professional imagery for your work. You could be a content creator looking for photographs that don't look like every other piece of content on your feed. You could be a creative with an idea you have been carrying around in your head for months. You could be creating a personal project, developing your personal brand, or simply wanting photographs that feel more elevated and expressive than the standard portrait.

 

That is one of the reasons I love editorial photography so much. It creates space for people to explore themselves visually.

 

Sometimes you want to be photographed exactly as you are. Other times, you want to explore a side of yourself you've never really had the chance to see. Perhaps you want to feel powerful. Perhaps you want something dramatic. Perhaps you want to experiment with fashion, styling or movement. Perhaps you want to look at a finished image and genuinely think, Wait... that's me?

And yes, your friend might be able to take a lovely picture of you on a phone. I'm not here to start a family argument. But there is a difference between someone taking a nice photograph and creating an entire visual concept around you.

 

Editorial photography sits inside that difference.

 

It is an ecosystem rather than a single photograph. There can be a concept, moodboard, styling, location, direction, lighting, movement, expression, editing and a whole creative process behind the finished image. The photograph you eventually see is only the final piece of a much bigger story.

 

At Nefertiti Spades, that is the part that matters to me. I don't want you to feel as though you've simply turned up, stood somewhere and had a camera pointed at you for two hours. I want there to be thought behind what we're creating.

 

Because when you approach the shoot that way, something changes.

You don't just go home with photographs.

You go home with an experience, a body of work and, hopefully, a completely different view of what you are capable of creating.

 

And once you understand what editorial photography actually is, the next question usually arrives very quickly:

 

How much does all of this actually cost?

That's where things get interesting.