Not even a professional photographer when he began shooting fashion images, Scott Schuman developed a unique eye on real fashion as seen on the streets with real people in their own clothing with their unique style.
Schuman began his career by accident photographing his young daughters on the streets and in the parks in NYC. And he found that he was drawn to the fascinating potpourri of fashion and style on the streets.
Recently interviewed on “60 Minutes”, he now has a successful blog, The Sartorialist, and an upcoming book.
What is it about his images that are so attractive and how has he been able to get his subjects to cooperate? He says that he first has to convince them that he is not “hitting” on them.
We looked through his blog’s archive to see how he had captured older women and found there to be very few. We found his response to this issue:
“When I am shooting on the street, older women and larger size women often say “no” to my request to shoot them. Actually, much more than any other category of people I shoot. I think they have a real suspicion about how the image will be used. I also think there continues to be a growing disconnect between the fashion community and “average” women in general.” He wonders whether the economics of the fashion industry will force it to look more closely at the market to include older women.
We are curious to know what you look for when shopping. What influences your buying? How does the print image or fashion editorial page effect your decision to look at or try on a particular outfit or coat or pair of shoes? Are you at all persuaded by brand identity? As “women of an uncertain age”, we have our own sense of style and what works for us. For us, there is a divide between trendy and style. We have closets full of clothes and yet certain ones become the go to outfit. Yet, we keep buying and we always look. Fashion is fun but we want the industry to pay more attention to us – we are still above the grass!!
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