Carol Douthitt and Peg Fetter have both grown into their lives as photostylists.
"A friend had worked at a small chain department store that does its advertising
in-house," says Douthitt, a photostylist in Oregon.
"She had become their head stylist and thought that I'd be a likely candidate
to learn the ropes. It was virtually an apprenticeship to learn how to make
the merchandise appealing before the camera.
"And with food, you buy things and rub them with oil and just use what
you can to make them look good. What they really look like or what they're
made from isn't important. They have to look good in the picture."
Douthitt's formal training came in art school. Her practical experience
came from floral design for retail and merchandising for a giftware shop.
Her studio work began on smaller shots in direct-mail brochures -- and
gradually she created feature photos. Douthitt was lucky enough to work with
a creative and patient photographer, so she learned quickly.
Photostyling discovered Fetter. "I was asked to be an artistic consultant
on a commercial job. I went and really enjoyed it. But what I know in the
field is basically self-taught, since my background is in metal shaping,"
she says.
Fetter has two degrees: a master's of fine arts and a bachelor's degree
in metalsmithing.
"That background brought me the creativeness and persistence for styling
-- and that is doing whatever it takes to get the job done. For fashion shots,
I do what I can to the clothes to make them fit the model. I've cut and taped
material -- anything to make it look good for the camera."
Lainey Koepke works as a photostylist for a greeting card company. "At
first I thought I wanted to do advertising, but I really enjoy this. It's
a very, very different career in that no two days are ever alike.
"This is a way of illustrating with photography. We want to evoke an emotion
in you that makes you want to pick up that [greeting] card."
Llamas, papier mache dogs, roses, fruit and Easter eggs are
some of the animals and objects that Koepke has worked with. And pigs -- she's
dressed them for photographs for a calendar. In her spare time, she reads
trade, commercial art and fashion magazines and makes teddy bears.
Henry Visscher puts in at least 65 to 70 hours a week. He's the photography
coordinator at a school of animation, arts and design. This department includes
the visual merchandising arts program.
"We work hard and we expect the students to work hard here," he says. "We
teach the elements of good design and styling. You'll know real quick if this
is the career for you. Many, many things go into a good photo -- everything
has to look just so -- and it takes time and energy to do this right.
"Photostyling is moving away from what we have known. It is becoming more
computerized. There is a lot more electronic and digitized design and imagery.
Now you can scan things into a computer, for example. Some of our emphasis
is on manipulating images in the studio."
Stephen Ang's most memorable shoots have been on the island of Anguilla
and in California, New Mexico and Colorado. "I love to travel to different
environments and experience different cultures," he says.
"I'm presented with a new environment and merchandise, and I have to creatively
arrive at solutions. As a fine artist, this is one of my passions -- creative
problem solving."