Photography Style

There are many kinds of photography. People tend to specialize or lean towards one or two types for many reasons. Even within the dozens of categories, there are even more subcategories. This article is about the 10 most popular types, followed by a list of special mentions.

1) Landscape

Type of photography that features large expanses of space, of large lands, or of the world. These images are meant to feature the grand scale of nature (and sometimes vast expanses of man-made features).

2) Fashion

Type of photography featuring fashion and clothing, often with professional female models. Entire industries are dedicated to fashion, which includes fashion magazines such as Elle, Vogue, or Vanity Fair.

3) Fine Art

Photography that is rooted in the artistic or subjective vision of a photographer, as opposed to representational photography (such as photojournalism) which accounts for unaltered reality.

Ansel Adams’ The Tetons and the Snake River

4) Portraiture

Photography that is about portraying the mood, personality, and expression of a person or group of persons. The focus is usually the face, though a farther out zoom to a half- or full-body is sometimes done.

5) Wildlife

Type of photography that documents animals in their natural habitat. It is often very challenging to photograph animals, since not only does a photographer need to be spot on with their technical skills but they also need to approach animals without being detected.

6) Wedding

Wedding photographers utilize a variety of photography styles to provide wedding coverage. Completely wedding coverage require the photographer to be good at macro, portrait, photojournalistic, fine art, fashion, landscape, and action/sports photography.

7) Macro

Type of photography that depicts extreme close up shots of small objects. By doing so, the subjects can appear to be much larger than life size.

8) Photojournalism

Photography that documents an event or story as it is unfolding. The photographer is to uphold fidelity to reality, to be honest and impartial while telling the story.

9) Architectural

Photography that portrays the feeling of being around a built environment. It is about portraying aesthetically pleasing buildings and structures.

10) Black & White

Photography that features images in black and white, i.e. shades of gray, in which the appeal lies in the monochromatic character of the style.