HUH?!?!?!?!
yo
think u got it mixed up
u looking for WARDROBE STYLIST or ART DIRECTOR ?
if its IMAGE styling, that responsibility is really YOU.
Hmmm, I think it would be good to clarify
A Image stylist/Consultant is someone like the wonderful Miss Karen Ng,
http://www.glitzbykaren.com/ who does consultancy work for clients and actually shops for clients when she is engaged to do so.
She is also a fashion stylist, able to style for commercial projects, editorial and other fashion related commercial jobs like fashion shows.
Wardrobe stylist is either a person who does wardrobe management for people or in the fashion world, loosely associated with Visual Merchandising, those whom you see decorating /styling/conceptualising the window displays of say, Chanel, LV, Gucci etc Again, for some fashion stylist/Image consultants, they are also good for either of these roles and are actively doing such projects locally.
An Art Director basically charts the art directions of a shoot (Print, TVC or Movie) which encompases the location, sets and props, clothes, makeup, hair, model/actors/talents/extras, poses/position, accessories and gel them together to achieve the desired mood and effect to complete the job for clients.
In this context, if you wanna be a good fashion/commercial photographer, its better you start with a team concept, working with people who are professional and can deliver to the standard required. Its hard but not impossible for a successful photographer to be able to art direct very well, Chuando and Geoff Ang are just some well known examples among the many who have done it.
Most startup photographers who venture into fashion face 3 major problems when they need to build up their portfolios.
1) Quality models- Locals vs Pan Asians vs Caucasians
2) Ability to loan out designer clothes/shoes/bags/accessories- Be it gowns, dresses, tuxedo, furs, swimwear etc
3) Very good fashion makeup/hair- They might do 1-2 TFCDs with you but if you dont have any commercial jobs for them in return, its hard for u to retain their services. They will need commercial jobs to survive and hence its hard to ask them to do FOC stuff with u all the time.
It makes a lot of difference to some clients when you show pictures of a local talent in some casual wear but a super mood setting/concept vs one with caucasians/pan asians with very good clothes/makeup/hair/styling/concept. It becomes a even bigger issue when you need to show your works to overseas clients.
A good yardstick is to do your folio and try for local magazines like Female/Her world brides, men's folio or newspaper like Today etc and see if you can pitch for their editorial spreads. Armed with these experiences, you can move to other areas to sustain yourself or even try for the foreign magazines/newspaper/ad agencies, whose budget is 4-20 times more than the local ones, allowing you to travel to exotic places, construct wonderful sets, engage a whole crew, sets of models, sets of lights.
Hope this will help you.
