This research examines contemporary fashion photography through the lens of architectural photography. How does the body interact with the space it inhabits? How does the setting frame the figure it surrounds?
While architectural photography often removes the human body, fashion photography places it at the center. By analyzing David LaChapelle’s fashion and portrait photography, I explore how the body’s interaction with its surroundings opens new ways of understanding the representation of space in images.
Reframing fashion photography as a vector of architectural photography allows us to rethink its role. As I argue: “LaChapelle’s photography channels the classical vocabulary of architectural photography while stripping away the grandeur of the built environment in favour of the human figure.”
Research project, MA Architectural History, The Bartlett, UCL, 2025.