In the world of fashion photography, being creative and edgy can be even more important than the look or quality of the clothes themselves. Although the subject should always remain the focus, the art of creating iconic photography to promote fashion items is a difficult one to master, but vital for any successful project. Of course doing this will depend somewhat on the medium used to capture the images, which got people talking recently about the latest Calvin Klein promotional campaign.

The controversial imagery used in the campaign wasn’t just talked about due to the models and underwear being depicted, but the fact that traditional film was used in the process rather than modern digital photography. Despite the fact that the vast majority of photographs are now taken on mobile phones (or perhaps because of this fact), people are rebelling against the modern status quo and film is experiencing a resurgence in the professional fashion photography field.

Many people would argue that there is a good reason that digital photography has all but taken over in the last two decades. The quality of professional digital photographs can be outstanding, with amazingly accurate details, colours and sharpness captured in a format that’s also easy to manipulation. Digital editing is more important than ever, especially in fashion, and digital images allow for quick turnaround. You can easily go from taking a picture to editing it and distributing it along with your other marketing materials in a matter of seconds. Social media marketing is often based around digital images being able to go viral instantaneously, so it makes perfect sense for businesses to invest mainly in digital.

However, it’s possible to achieve incredible results with traditional film, if you have a professional fashion photographer in charge of the camera. Film images arguably capture something that cold digital images don’t. Their tendency to somehow reflect human feelings and resonate on a more emotional level with people makes them perfect for certain photography projects.

This all means that using film can be a great way to differentiate fashion photography from the sea of digital competition, although on the other hand it may be more difficult to work with and not necessarily suitable to get the best results for different types of product photography. Considering the options available to you and the end results you require will help you decide on the best course of action when working together with professional photographers.