Who is most important for a good photo - photographer or model?

[papa_levante]

The photographer can capture good angles and with the help of lighting and what not, s/he can shoot an amazing photograph. I've heard that everyone has a good side, and a good photographer can capture that.

Then again, I find that it isn't easy to evoke an emotion in a photo. Modeling is just like acting, being and portraying a certain feeling. It takes a lot of work to make a pose or face look convincing and not forced.

What do you all think?

Can anyone be a model if the photographer is good enough at capturing the best angles of people?

 

[BerlinRocks]

honestly, i think the question is hard ...
but honestly i think all depends on the photog' .... and it also all depends on the client ...

my answer is not really bringing sthg... but the question is too general ...
are you talking about commercials ? editorials ? beauty ed ? etc.

On a commercial, everything depends on the client !!!
On an editorial : this is a whole team ... but the photog' and stylist generally choose the model (make-up and hair stylists come after) ... but sometimes, they can be very disappointed .... if they haven't met her before and chose her with the agency card ... I already see this : the model was great on pictures, but when the model came on the shooting we noticed her nose was not the way it looks on every pictures ....
On a beauty ed : Model and Photog are important !

 

[gatano]

the obvious reply: you need both "good"
the fact is that this is the truth

 

[Street_a_Licious]

i say the photographer is more important. the photog can make the model look hideous or flawless. even if the model is absolute crap, out of 1000 pictures there will be at least ONE picture that will be useable.

while, even if the model is perfect and professional, if the photog is so bad that he/she can't capture the model's beauty, no good shot would emerge from the shoot.

 

[m.j.]

the photographer is more important but the connection between them has to be right

 

[wheneveriwakeup]

BOTH...
As well as the stylist, hairstylist,etc...
Everyone involved in the photo-shoot, rly, imo...
All of the elements must align in harmony for
everything to go well...

But I think a great model & stylist can rly elevate a photo-shoot...
If you've got amazing styling going on + a great girl to carry it...
a mediocre photog won't matter so much...
Still though, I'd rather have a great team,
rather than a 'just-so' team...

 

[seanutbutter]

the photographer is more important but the connection between them has to be right

Exactly. It's easy to take a picture of a person, but if we both feel uncomfortable, the results would show that. The lighting could be perfect, the image could be sharp as a razor, but if the emotion isn't there, then it's not all it could be, period. This is a key part of taking photos of people, especially portraits.

 

[5nap5hot]

Can anyone be a model if the photographer is good enough at capturing the best angles of people?

This is certainly not true. A good model must be able to connect with the photographer and emote.
The connection between photographer and model is also key to a good photo as well.

 

[BetteT]

I, of course, would say it's the whole team. One person not doing their job can ruin the whole thing. If everbody is ON ... the photographer, the model, the stylist, hair and makeup ... then it can be totally amazing. Fashion photography does not happen in a vauum ... it's a huge team effort.

The rapport between the tog and the model is definitely very important ... if they can get on the same wave length together ... get in the zone ... they can create magic. The best models can do that ... and so can the best photographers. But if one of them can't ... then the magic does not happen.

 

[Lightwriter]

The subject of this thread makes it feel appropriate for me to make my first post as a new member of tfs.

As a photographer for more than thirty years, I am still trying to figure out what makes a "good" photograph. My clients sometimes pass over photographs that are stunning to me, and choose ones that I almost junked. More often than not when I ask why he or she chose a particular photograph, I get the answer, "I don't know. There's just something about it..."

The best definition I can come up with for a good photograph is: One that stops the viewer from turning the page. At least that is the component in the "something about it."

I am convinced that two things are required to make what I consider a great photograph: great lighting and a great subject. Lighting and angles work together. Great lighting and bad angles - and vice versa - produce cliche photographs at best. The lighting, and, to a great extent, finding the correct angles, is the task of the photographer.

The model seems to bring the "something about it" quality that my clients note, the facial expression, the general feel, and so on.

Only when the model and I can get all of these qualities to come together do I get something that makes someone look twice. And, that is the goal.

Rf

 

[aeroxy]

Obviously the photographer. Most good photos in the history of weren't capturing human beings, and ones that do, weren't capturing models. This is even true in fashion photography.

But, that being said, models help to sell product or story, and they are not terribly expensive and difficult to come by in comparison to other creative excesses.

 

[VogueDisciple93]

It is a team effort, but I have to say the photographer is more important of the two. I have seen photographers capture near miracles with subjects that seem hopeless with smart direction. A good photographer can see what works in a subject and goes about highlighting that and making it work for the job.

 

[florylate]

A good photographer is more important. You can have a good photograph with a good photographer and a mediocre model, but never the reverse.

Photography is a more challenging skill than modeling is. A talented photographer can direct any subject and capture a good photograph.

 

[eizhowa]

If Terry Richardson is the photographer, the model is everything

 

[MayaStar]

^^^ Actually he is not that bad. If you dont like it... its different question.
He has a lot of lows these days but he can work with models and clothes. I think its very important for fashion photographer.

Answering the question - photographer. Because good photographer can work with bad model and save the whole work. Actually is not about styling. I have expirience when styling was good but on the photo it looked very flat.