Elaine Constantine

Elaine Constantine is a British born Photographer who specialises in fashion and the youth culture of today. Her images are always upbeat and colourful with a very summery feel about them, showing Youths having fun and just being young with friends. Constantine has worked for fashion magazines such as ‘The Face’ which is a British music and fashion magazine, founded in the 80’s. She really shows the culture of today in what she photographs, showing young people just having fun in a colourful environment.


Unlike the more classic fashion photography of Irving Penn, Constantine takes a completely different angle using natural lighting on location, instead of artificial lighting in the studio. I think the image above really shows her style of photography as it looks fun, the clothing is in clear view, and the subjects are in a natural setting. You can tell by the way that the shot it lit that there has been only natural lighting used, i.e. The Sun. as it is prominently lit from one side, with shadows spread in one constant direction. What makes this different from classic fashion photography is that instead of making the clothes the single subject, the picture as a whole contributes to both advertising and the clothes themselves. As set in a summer setting of what looks like a lake, you can tell that the clothes are intended for summer wear, and the way that the models are posed, jumping around, I think shows their durability in this kind of weather. From this photograph you can tell that the intended audience is young people, possibly university students, that just want to hang around with friends and enjoy the summer weather, and this adds to the effectiveness of the shot.