From raw, documentary-style editorial to hyper-saturated colour grading and film emulation, this year's campaigns are rejecting the clinical polish of the previous decade. Here is what clients are actually requesting right now.
If you have noticed a shift in the mood of brand photography over the last 18 months, you are not imagining it. The era of the hyper-retouched, studio-perfect campaign image is giving way to something more textured, more honest, and in many cases more compelling. Here are the five trends we are seeing dominate briefs on Yash Talent right now.
1. Documentary realism
Brands that spent the last decade chasing glossy perfection are now asking for images that feel like they were shot by a friend with a really good camera. Handheld movement, available light, authentic moments rather than posed ones. The aesthetic signals authenticity and trust in a way that heavily art-directed imagery increasingly cannot. This trend is particularly strong in lifestyle, wellness, and DTC brands.
2. Film emulation and grain
The digital-to-film nostalgia cycle continues. Clients are specifically requesting grain, halation, and colour science that references 35mm or medium format film stocks. Whether shot on actual film or achieved in post, the warmth and imperfection of analogue aesthetics remains highly in demand. Photographers who can shoot on film or grade convincingly to film will continue to find strong demand for this look.
3. Hyper-saturated editorial
Running in parallel — and to some degree in direct opposition — to documentary realism is a strand of editorial photography that is leaning hard into colour. Bold, punchy palettes with deliberate colour grading choices are appearing across fashion, beauty, and even food campaigns. Think Wes Anderson meets contemporary beauty brand. The key is intentionality — these images are not oversaturated by accident, they are oversaturated by design.
4. Tighter crops and unconventional framing
The full-length, perfectly centred product shot is increasingly feeling dated. Art directors are asking for tighter crops, extreme close-ups, fragmented compositions that would have been considered mistakes a few years ago. This reflects both a shift in aesthetic sensibility and a practical response to social media formats where unusual framing stops the scroll more effectively than conventional composition.
5. Collaborative, longer-format shoots
Perhaps the most significant structural trend: brands are moving away from single-day hero shoots toward ongoing creative partnerships. Rather than one big campaign shoot per season, they are working with a consistent photographer (and creative team) on a rolling basis, building a coherent visual identity over months rather than briefing afresh each time. For photographers, this means pitching for relationships rather than individual jobs.
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