What do you need Corporate, Commercial or Editorial Photography? And what’s the difference between them?

I am often asked whats the differences between Corporate, Commercial and Editorial Photography. I must admit it can be pretty confusing!

They all seem to be quite interchangeable but there are differences. And whether you are looking for photography for your business or you are deciding which career path you want to follow, it’s handy to know the differences.

So I’ve set out a brief description of the three genres..

Commercial Photography.

This is usually associated with producing an advertising campaign for a company that may be used locally, nationally or worldwide. Normally a lot of planning involved, so as a photographer you normally deal with an ad agency who work closely with the client. A producer who marketing agency who helps put the shoot together.

There maybe set builders and model builders involved on larger advertising shoots or campaigns. Certainly if models or talent are involved there will be make up artists, hair stylists and clothes stylist or wardrobe. And all these may well have assistants! I have been on shoots where there have been upwards of twenty people on set. As a photographer you may work with an couple of assistants - camera, lighting and maybe digital tech as well. Oh and lets not forget the catering!

There is a rich history to commercial photography with some very memorable adds being produced over the decades. Maybe I am biased but I think in the UK we have excellent advertising of products be they on billboards ie print or on TV - film.

Corporate Photography.

The photographer this time works closely with a sole trader or SME with the intention of producing material that is primarily used for marketing purposes. In the days of old (before the internet!) the corporate brochure was a staple product for the professional photographer. And for me the principles that applied to producing this document still apply today.

These days though corporate photography include shooting headshots and staff profile photographs for websites and social media. Other options may be meetings of staff, the office environment, workers out on location, meeting and talking to customers, it’s quite an exhaustive list and really depends on the business in question.

As a general rule I approach it as “photographs of you and your employees going about their everyday activities”. Its all about adding a personality and brand to a company.

If it’s a sole trader, you would normally deal with them directly and be expected to contribute to ideas as to the look and feel of how they may be presented and marketed to their client base - this is know as personal branding photography. This is a rapidly growing genre of photography as more and more sole traders enter the market. In fact as we stand in the UK 60% of businesses are sole traders.

Medium sized companies would normally employ a marketing executive. There role is to lay out a strategy as to how the company will engage the marketing place and thus would tend to have a more focussed approach as to how photography would be used in a marketing campaign.

The role of the photographer would then be to liaise and work with the marketing team in order to produce a cohesive and effective campaign. This is where the lines between the corporate and commercial world begins to blur!

Editorial Photography.

This is usually associated with a magazine - on-line or bookshelf. It involves the photographer working with a picture editor to produce a number of pages or “story”. I was lucky enough to do my BA degree in Editorial Photography at Brighton University, so I became very immersed in this genre of photography.

It’s roots come from documentary photography and there is a rich history surrounding this niche. Photo stories were published in magazines such as Life and the British equivalent - Picture Post. Features would run to several pages and the photographs took pride of place.

In recent years there has been a downfall in the sales of magazines and in particular the advertising that financed them. Inevitably more and more content went on line and the idea s and philosophies of creating a visual narrative have been watered down.

However there is still hope in the rising popularity of self-financed books. With print runs of sometimes only a few hundred they are very specialised and appeal to collectors. Now photographers can really explore very personal and niche subjects and create and build their own markets.