How to choose a photography style
Choosing a photography style is about creating a consistent visual language that helps your audience recognise, connect with, and trust your brand.
Many small businesses don’t have the budget to commission original photography — but even when using stock photography, you can still choose visuals that feel distinctive, consistent, and emotionally engaging. Photography isn’t just about what looks good; it’s a powerful storytelling tool that shapes how people perceive your brand.
Your logo, colour palette, typography, and illustration style all play vital roles in defining who you are. But photography captures real human emotion. It brings your brand to life and creates a more personal, relatable connection with your audience.
A clear and consistent photography style builds brand recognition and attracts the right audience. When your images feel coherent and intentional, they communicate professionalism, reliability, and authenticity — qualities that build trust and loyalty over time.
Patagonia’s photography style
Patagonia’s photography style is focused on outdoor adventure, raw and rugged landscapes, people interacting with nature in real conditions. Their photography instantly communicates sustainability, authenticity, and environmental commitment. Viewers recognize Patagonia’s images as more than product shots — they’re part of the brand story.
Yotam Ottolenghi’s photography style
Yotam Ottolenghi‘s mediterranean-inspired recipes are brought to life through vibrant, saturated colours and rich textural compositions. His images celebrate the natural beauty of ingredients, combining fresh produce and spices to create a bright and joyful style. There is also a sense of delicious imperfection — a drizzle of sauce here, a crumb or two there. It’s a visual style that feels warm, human, and irresistibly real.
Authenticity
Creating authentic visuals is one of the most important considerations for your brand photography. Authenticity builds trust, strengthens connection with your audience, and ensures your imagery reflects your brand values.
Represent Your Audience
The people in your photos should reflect your real audience — their age, gender, ethnicity, lifestyle, and values. Images that feel disconnected from your audience’s world can create a barrier to engagement.
Perfectly imperfect
Your visuals should be natural, relatable, and believable. Overly staged or overly edited images can undermine credibility just as much as low-quality ones. Often, it’s the unpolished, spontaneous moments that feel most authentic.
Be Thoughtful with AI Photography
AI-generated visuals are becoming more accessible, opening up exciting creative possibilities, but it’s essential to use them thoughtfully. If your audience senses something artificial or emotionally hollow, the connection breaks. Ensure that any AI-generated visuals still feel genuine, and are aligned with your brand’s story, so that your audience experiences a true sense of connection rather than skepticism.
Aspirational vs. Relatable
Aspirational photography can be a powerful tool for brands, especially in categories like fitness and lifestyle. Images of people achieving goals — like a runner crossing a finish line or a toned athlete in action — inspire your audience and communicate the possibilities your brand represents. However, it’s important to stay true to your audience. If the imagery feels unattainable, overly staged, or disconnected from your audience’s reality, it can create a sense of exclusion rather than motivation. The key is to balance inspiration with relatability, showing what’s aspirational yet achievable.
Sensitive or Challenging Subjects
Not all photography can be aspirational, relatable or even comfortable. Some subjects require a different kind of sensitivity. When we worked with Barnardo’s National Counter Trafficking Centre (NCTC) to develop their visual identity, the photography approach had to communicate hope. It would have been neither ethical nor effective to show the distress or trauma of child trafficking. Instead, we focused on representation that restores humanity and optimism. The imagery features teenagers aged 16–18 — the age group Barnardo’s NCTC primarily supports — from diverse backgrounds, shown laughing, sharing food, and spending time together. This authentic, empowering style reflects Barnardo’s mission: Changing childhood. Changing lives.
