The Female Gaze in Fashion Photography

Fashion photography is finally shifting focus. Five women behind the lens are shaping a new visual language that feels more intimate, honest, and sharp. This is the female gaze in action.

Project 365 by Zhong Lin | Source: @zhonglin_
Project 365 by Zhong Lin | Source: @zhonglin_

For decades, fashion’s imagery revolved around the male gaze, but now a new guard of female photographers is redefining style narratives. Through their unique lenses, Zoë Ghertner, Gray Sorrenti, Carlijn Jacobs, Zhong Lin, and Larissa Hofmann each offer fresh, powerful perspectives that feel authentic, cool, and undeniably contemporary.

Zoë Ghertner
Zoë Ghertner | Source: @whatscontemporarynow
Zoë Ghertner | Source: @whatscontemporarynow

Zoë Ghertner doesn’t do spectacle. Her work—whether for The Row, Hermès, or Miu Miu—lets the clothes breathe and the subject lead. With sun-drenched palettes and minimal interference, her images lean into the kind of quiet strength that rarely makes it to the mood board. She prefers honesty over polish, avoiding artificiality in favor of something more enduring. In Ghertner’s world, there is beauty in stillness, confidence in simplicity. The women she photographs look like they’re in on the conversation—never the objects of it.

Miu Miu FW23 Campaign | Source: Nevermind Agency
Miu Miu FW23 Campaign | Source: Nevermind Agency
Versace SS25 Campaign | Source: Versace
Versace SS25 Campaign | Source: Versace
Chloé FW23 Campaign | Source: Nevermind Agency
Chloé FW23 Campaign | Source: Nevermind Agency
Wales Bonner AW24 Campaign | Source: Nevermind Agency
Wales Bonner AW24 Campaign | Source: Nevermind Agency

Even in campaigns with global reach, Ghertner resists artifice. Her Miu Miu portraits read more like personal vignettes than marketing. She favors natural light, neutral settings, and subtle gestures that keep the subject at the center. It’s a gaze that honors rather than defines. In a landscape saturated with digital excess, Ghertner’s restraint lands with clarity. Her work doesn’t ask to be admired. It invites you to look closer.


Gray Sorrenti
Gray Sorrenti | Source: Art Partner
Gray Sorrenti | Source: Art Partner

Gray Sorrenti came up shooting her friends and skate kids downtown, long before big brands caught on. Her portraits feel like journal entries: spontaneous, close-range, and instinctive. By 16, she was lensing for Calvin Klein; since then, Loewe, Saint Laurent, and Moncler have followed. She brings a rare intimacy to campaigns that might otherwise default to gloss. Her perspective isn’t performative. It’s present, grounded, and fully tuned in.

Loewe Paula's Ibiza 2025 Campaign | Source: Loewe
Loewe Paula’s Ibiza 2025 Campaign | Source: Loewe
Saint Laurent Fall 2023 Campaign | Source: @graysorrenti
Saint Laurent Fall 2023 Campaign | Source: @graysorrenti

Her style favors grain over glamour. In Sorrenti’s world, vulnerability is a visual strength—one that leaves space for the subject to show up unguarded. She doesn’t overly direct, and it shows. There’s a lived-in quality to her photos that can’t be faked. Whether she’s working with Maya Hawke or capturing a model mid-laugh, Sorrenti finds elegance in the unscripted. Her work is about connection, not control.


Carlijn Jacobs
Carlijn Jacobs | Source: Foam
Carlijn Jacobs | Source: Foam

Carlijn Jacobs doesn’t aim for realism. Her work blends surrealism with visual wit, balancing distorted glamour with a sense of knowing play. From Gucci campaigns to the now-iconic Renaissance album cover for Beyoncé, Jacobs crafts imagery that lives between fantasy and commentary. She isn’t afraid to exaggerate or deconstruct. Instead, she thrives on creating new visual codes entirely.

Prada Holiday Ad Campaign | Source: Art + Commerce
Prada Holiday Ad Campaign | Source: Art + Commerce
Beyoncé Album Cover | Source: Art + Commerce
Beyoncé Album Cover | Source: Art + Commerce
Acne Studios SS23 Campaign | Source: @carlijnjacobs
Acne Studios SS23 Campaign | Source: @carlijnjacobs
Chanel Beauty Campaign | Source: Art + Commerce
Chanel Beauty Campaign | Source: Art + Commerce

Jacobs leans into transformation. Models become mythic, environments turn uncanny, and fashion becomes a tool for shape-shifting. She experiments without losing clarity, even her strangest images hold their form. What makes her work distinct is control: each element is intentional, yet nothing feels overworked. She pushes boundaries not to provoke, but to reimagine what presence can look like. Her women are never props. They’re architects of their own spectacle.


Zhong Lin
Source: @zhonglin_
Source: @zhonglin_

Zhong Lin crafts images that feel like dreams remembered vividly. Splitting her time between Taiwan and Malaysia, she layers influences from both cultures into rich, cinematic frames. Lin’s photos are compelling in their strangeness—lush with color, unpredictable in composition, and alive with spontaneity. Her visuals often suggest stories in mid-scene, each frame hinting at something deeper, something just out of reach.

Project 365 | Source: @zhonglin_
Project 365 | Source: @zhonglin_
Byredo Fragrances Campaign | Source: Byredo
Byredo Fragrances Campaign | Source: Byredo
Shushu/Tong FW 2024 Campaign | Source: Shushu/Tong
Shushu/Tong FW 2024 Campaign | Source: Shushu/Tong
Project 365 | Source: @zhonglin_
Project 365 | Source: @zhonglin_

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In April 2020, Lin launched Project 365, committing to create and share a new image every day for a year. The self-assigned challenge, born during lockdown, became a daily exercise in spontaneity and resilience. Whether it’s whimsical portraits for Perfect Magazine and i-D or striking, moody visuals for Nike, Lin’s images carry a sense of unfiltered authenticity. Her approach blends fashion, fine art, and personal exploration effortlessly. The magic of her work is how comfortably it sits in uncertainty—beautiful, mysterious, and distinctly hers.


Larissa Hofmann
Larissa Hofmann shot by Bastian Thiery | Source: @larissahofmann
Larissa Hofmann shot by Bastian Thiery | Source: @larissahofmann

Larissa Hofmann approaches the camera with the sensibility of someone who’s stood on both sides of it. A former model for Chanel and Gaultier, she knows what the image can take from a person, and what it can offer back. Her photos carry a softness that never feels fragile. They are composed, yes, but also loose, with just enough space for realness to get through. She captures what happens in the pause before the pose.

SELF-PORTRAIT Residency By Christopher Kane | Source: SELF-PORTRAIT
SELF-PORTRAIT Residency By Christopher Kane | Source: SELF-PORTRAIT
Marc Jacobs Pre-Fall 22 Campaign | Source: Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs Pre-Fall 22 Campaign | Source: Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs Pre-Fall 23 Campaign | Source: Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs Pre-Fall 23 Campaign | Source: Marc Jacobs
Larissa Hofmann's personal work | Source: @larissahofmann
Larissa Hofmann’s personal work | Source: @larissahofmann

Her portraits favor honesty over artifice. She’s shot Gigi Hadid, Paloma Elsesser, Mona Tougaard—but it never feels transactional. There’s always a shared rhythm between her and the subject. Hofmann isn’t chasing a statement. She’s recording a conversation. The result is work that feels observational, patient, and quietly assured. It listens, then clicks.