A/k/a the long shot, a/k/a the establishing shot.
I’m going to take a guess and say that every film has a
least one, and probably many, many more.
At some point, the viewer’s brain needs to know where the action takes
place. “Inside a room" doesn’t cut
it for very long. A room
inside what, and where is that “what” located? Viewers' brains are very demanding.
But in fashion photograpy? Not so much. The wide shot seems relegated to more “arty” editorials
or campaigns. Maybe because,
with the model so far away, they don’t show the texture of the fabric, or simply show
too little of the clothing and too much other stuff.
But while an intimate view of the warp and the weft is
important, it doesn’t automatically impart an intimate feeling for the clothes.
The larger story of a
picture or editorial does most of that.
And a larger picture is the whole reason why editors and art directors seek out interesting,
emotional locations, isn’t it?
The wide shot has the possibility of bringing in all
those other emotional factors. It
also gives the model and the clothes some space to breathe, to put them more
solidly and naturally in the scene, as if a photographer wasn’t even
there. Not in a voyeuristic way (although
that’s possible, too), but in a more neutral way. Less intimate,
more epic. And if nothing else, a
wide shot creates an opportunity to include more design elements, for a more
sophisticated and, if it works, more interesting visual experience.
And creating a more interesting picture might be the key
reason to show more of a location at the expense of seeing less of the clothes close
up. Because…if it’s more
interesting, people will spend more time looking at it. The eye will dance around the image for
a moment longer, delighting in the overall design—a delight that hopefully gets
associated with the brand.
