A groundbreaking photography exhibition is challenging traditional notions of fashion imagery by showcasing the work of nine innovative photographers who are redefining the genre. "Rethinking Fashion Image," curated by Violet Conroy, deputy editor of AnOthermag.com, presents a diverse collection of work that interrogates and expands contemporary understanding of fashion photography.
The exhibition, running at Lower Stable Street Lightboxes near Central Saint Martins Kings Cross campus until January 5, 2026, features photographers who view fashion as more than just clothing documentation. "Fashion imagery is fascinating because it's not just about clothes. It's about what people want, who they are, and the whole system behind it," explains Rino Qiu, one of the featured artists.
Conroy emphasizes the cultural significance of fashion photography beyond industry circles. "Even for people without an interest in fashion, their lives are intangibly shaped by fashion images," she notes. "They are an inescapable, ubiquitous part of everyday modern life, shaping beauty standards, fashion trends, and broader visual culture."
The nine featured photographers include Kaine Harrys Anamalu, Coco Wu, Carina Kehlet Schou, Xueling Chen, Rino Qiu, Camille Lemoine, Maya-Aska Arai, Olivia Chen and Kaiwei Duan, and Lorane Hochstätter. All are current students or alumni of Central Saint Martins, selected for their unique engagement with fashion imagery. Their work spans diverse themes including humanity's connection to nature, diasporic identity, community relationships, evolving concepts of femininity, and everyday life experiences.
The photographers' work represents a departure from conventional fashion imagery, focusing on authenticity over aspiration. "These photographers are interested in real people and real places," Conroy explains. "They have a very personal connection to their subjects, which feels at odds with much of the aspirational and highly staged fashion imagery we see today."
Several artists draw inspiration from the documentary-style movement that emerged in the 1980s through photographers like Corinne Day and Wolfgang Tillmans, who pioneered an anti-glamorous approach to fashion photography. Coco Wu, who works as both a casting agent and photographer, street-casts her subjects, selecting them for their unconventional, authentic beauty rather than traditional modeling standards.
Rino Qiu takes a different approach by creating meticulously framed tableaux that reveal the behind-the-scenes reality of fashion photography. His work deliberately exposes the "off-camera aspects of a photo shoot, revealing the hidden mechanisms and invisible labor that go into producing the polished imagery we are used to seeing." Qiu explains his methodology: "I'm interested in moving beyond fashion's fantastical elements by turning my focus to fashion's margins: the workers, the downtime, and the infrastructures that support it. I'm drawn to the in-between moments."
Olivia Chen contributes staged photographs featuring real people from second-generation Chinese youth from Wenzhounese families in Prato, Italy. Her work moves away from the pristine fashion image with professional models, instead recreating a documentary-like aesthetic that prioritizes authenticity over perfection.
Scottish photographer Camille Lemoine brings a spiritual dimension to fashion photography, creating work that has more in common with land art and Ana Mendieta's Silueta series than traditional fashion imagery. "It's about the body, nature, and creating a soulful connection with the earth," Conroy describes. Lemoine shoots in the rural landscapes of her homeland, often using friends and family to model garments made from natural materials like heather, eggshells, and feathers.
"I'm interested in telling personal stories and working with objects and locations I already have a relationship with," Lemoine explains. "Clothes are rarely the main focus of my images. I am more interested in telling a personal story and using this to contribute to wider conversations within visual culture."
The exhibition also explores themes of identity and representation in British landscapes. Maya-Aska Arai examines perceptions of place and identity while addressing the historical absence of people of color in rural British landscape photography. Similarly, Kaine Harrys Anamalu, an Italian-Nigerian photographer, works to forge new representations of Black bodies within Italian cultural and aesthetic contexts.
The geographic scope of the exhibition is vast, featuring projects captured across multiple continents from Scotland to Shanghai, London to Milan, and beyond. Despite this diversity, common threads unite the artists' approaches, particularly their focus on personal connections with subjects and authentic storytelling.
Qiu envisions a future for fashion photography that embraces greater diversity and authenticity. "I hope fashion photography can move beyond relying solely on one definition of beauty and aspiration," he states. "I envision a future where such imagery embraces greater pluralism, stays more connected to real contexts, and places far less emphasis on perfection and hype."
The exhibition's location in a non-gallery space is intentional, designed to reach audiences who might not typically engage with fashion photography. Conroy hopes this accessibility will spark broader interest in the medium's artistic potential. "Fashion photography is often dismissed as frivolous or commercial, but it is where some of the most interesting artistic innovation and experimentation is happening in the visual arts. It cannot be underestimated," she concludes.
"Rethinking Fashion Image" serves as both a showcase of emerging talent and an invitation to reconsider the possibilities within fashion photography, asking fundamental questions about what fashion images can be, what they can contain, and whom they can portray in an evolving visual landscape.
