Fashion and portrait photographer Jack Davison recently asked his fellow photographers on Instagram how often they’re being asked to incorporate AI into their work. He posed the question after encountering it more frequently in his commercial projects—requests to use AI for replacing backgrounds, animating still images, creating mock-ups, and storyboarding. For Davison, this is a boundary he refuses to cross.
“I had a couple of weeks where I was offered jobs with AI elements throughout the project. One, in particular, wanted me to allow multiple background replacements using AI,” Davison told Vogue Business. “I was a bit shocked by how quickly it had seeped into more and more aspects of the industry, and I wanted to see what others were going through.”
The post sparked a flood of responses from photographers and other photo industry professionals. They shared experiences of clients using AI in production, such as asking photographers to match their film work to AI-generated references. One respondent noted that AI-created agency and creative decks are setting unrealistic expectations. While a few said they hadn’t been asked to use AI, the overwhelming sentiment was captured in one reply: “It’s the new normal.”
These stories align with findings from the Association of Photographers (AOP), which has been monitoring AI’s impact on its UK members for the past three years. The AOP’s latest data, co-published with representative bodies from other creative fields like illustration and music under the title “Brave New World? Justice for Creators in the Age of Gen AI,” confirms the real impact on photographers. The research found that as of September 2024, 30% of photographers had lost assignments to generative AI. By February 2025, that figure rose to 58%, with average wage losses of £14,400 per photographer.
Fashion, like many industries, is exploring how AI can increase efficiency, reduce costs, and streamline processes. However, similar to other creative sectors, there’s an unresolved tension: fundamental questions about how much to preserve human creativity and artistic authorship, and, on a practical level, how customers actually respond to AI-generated fashion imagery.
“[Photographers] are definitely now competing directly with AI,” explains AOP CEO Isabelle Doran. “They are asked to submit a treatment—a document outlining the creative vision, story, and visual style of a project—only to be told by the client, ‘You are pitching against generative AI.'”
As AI becomes more embedded in their work, creative professionals are being forced to take a stand, develop policies, and adapt to new client expectations. “You are seeing a split in the marketplace,” Doran says. “Between those who say it’s all about cost and those who say it’s all about human creativity.”
In the middle of this shift are the agents representing photographers, who must carefully balance the needs of their commercial clients with the interests of the artists they represent. While work continues to come in, one of the first major challenges agents have faced since AI’s arrival is how it’s changing client expectations. Agents are now receiving highly detailed AI-generated mock-ups, known as scamps, which not only limit the artist’s creative input but also raise expectations about what’s achievable.
“At the moment, the most common way AI is appearing for us is through clients’ internal use—things like pre-visuals, briefs, creative mock-ups, and storyboards that we encounter as projects come in,” says Hati Gould, an agent at East Photographic. “Clients are presenting mock-ups that are often very close to what they want the final outcome to be.”Playbook
By Amy Francombe
AI mock-ups are extremely specific and realistic in a way that traditional sketches and moodboards never were. As a result, clients often arrive with a fixed vision rather than a general direction. These mock-ups have frequently been approved internally, locking in expectations. And because they look like finished images rather than rough concepts, it’s harder to explain the gap between the client’s brief and what’s actually possible to produce.
Laura Dawes, a director at Webber—an international agency representing photographers, directors, stylists, and set designers—notes that one client’s AI mock-ups were impossible to recreate under the actual shoot conditions. In response, Webber has updated its contract terms to address new scenarios: “Any mock-ups, pre-production briefings, or approvals that use AI must be signed off by us, to ensure we can deliver what the client is asking for.”
Post-production in a post-AI world
AI is also appearing in new post-production scenarios. Charlotte Long, head of photography at Academy Films, describes a fashion shoot where a photographer delivered stills, but by the time the brand shared the images on social media, they had been turned into motion assets. “It was alarming at first,” she says, “but also intriguing—and honestly, really impressive how they did it.” However, if this kind of usage had been planned from the start, the creative approach might have been different. “If the photographer knew they were delivering videos, they might have lit the shots differently,” she adds.
While some clients have explored fully AI-generated campaigns, Long finds that work which starts with a photographer’s original image—even if AI is used later in the process—is both logistically and legally clearer. There’s an original file to work from, and the photographer owns the intellectual property. “It’s much easier to navigate usage rights when the photographer already owns them,” she says. That said, when real people or models are involved, negotiating AI usage terms becomes trickier, especially since “some model agencies don’t agree to it either.”
Meanwhile, some photographers and agents are trying to prevent their work from being used to train AI once it leaves their hands. Contracts are being adjusted to control such usage, and although it’s difficult to monitor, emerging services like Glaze and Nightshade claim to help protect creative works by altering how AI systems interpret them.
AOP’s Doran reminds us what’s at stake: “If you’re uploading photographs or film, you’re training the AI model—helping it improve, but also teaching it the style of the original creators.” Doran adds that in the UK, artistic treatments are protected by copyright as expressions of an idea, though protections vary globally.
Consumer and creative response
In New York, legislation taking effect in June 2026 will require advertisers to disclose the use of AI-generated human likenesses in commercial advertising. Depending on consumer reaction, this could shift the preference away from AI toward crafted photography. Earlier this year, AI-generated images posted by Gucci received mixed reviews, with many responding negatively. Other brands like Valentino and Prada have experimented with the technology, eliciting similarly strong reactions. Some, like Aerie, have publicly committed to not using AI in their campaigns.
This split in opinion is reflected among photographers as well. Agents representing photographic artists are navigating a wide range of views on AI—from curiosity and experimentation to resistance. Dawes explains: “It really comes down to the artists, their boundaries, and what they want to embrace. My role is to use my experience to advise on what boundaries should be set.”
Some photographers arePhotographers are integrating AI into their work. Long shares the example of a still-life photographer who has fully adopted AI. “He’s really intrigued by it,” she says, viewing it as a creative extension and a tool that encourages playfulness.
Others are responding to AI’s rise by returning to traditional camera skills and hands-on production methods. “Our photographers are already exploring a more analog approach, doing as much as possible in-camera, which I see as a natural and creative response,” Long explains.
Davison shares this view: “I love preserving a sense of physicality in my work, so it feels right to keep challenging myself to create things that are tactile and human.”
However, for photography to endure as a craft, new photographers must have opportunities to learn it. Industry professionals are worried about the pipeline of emerging talent, as assistant roles—where photographers gain essential experience—are being reduced in favor of AI. The Brave New World report notes that generative AI is already replacing entry-level and foundational work that supports creative careers. It also highlights that each lost photography job can impact up to 10 additional workers, including assistants, making it harder for newcomers to build sustainable careers.
Davison’s Instagram survey reflected this concern. One respondent explained how e-commerce support and practical “grunt work” enable photographers to fund their more ambitious projects. Davison added how crucial his own early, random jobs were in shaping his skills and perspective. “For artists who haven’t yet found their direction or had the chance to learn, you’re removing all those opportunities,” says Dawes.
There are no simple solutions, and the industry lacks a unified stance. As Dawes notes: “I don’t operate under one umbrella. I work for an artist, and each artist will have a completely different view. You can’t apply a blanket rule.”
For now, the industry is in conversation—sharing experiences about new contract terms, production hurdles, and changing client expectations. These discussions range from casual peer chats to organized roundtables. Gould recently held one across her New York and UK offices. “With laws developing differently across regions,” she says, “the goal was to build a shared understanding.”
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs AI in Fashion Photography
BeginnerLevel Questions
1 What does AI is everywhere even mean for fashion photography
It means AI tools are now integrated into many parts of the workflow from planning shoots and generating concepts to editing photos creating virtual models and even building mood boards
2 Is AI going to replace fashion photographers
No its more likely to become a powerful tool that changes the job The creative vision direction storytelling and ability to work with real people and brands will remain essential AI is replacing some tasks not the role itself
3 What are some simple AI tools a photographer can start with
Begin with AIpowered editing software like Adobe Photoshops Generative Fill or tools like Luminar Neo for sky replacement and skin retouching AI assistants in programs like Lightroom can also speed up culling and basic adjustments
4 Can AI create a fashion photo from scratch
Yes Using texttoimage generators you can type a detailed description and the AI will generate original images These are often used for concepts mockups or digital fashion
5 Whats the main benefit of using AI as a photographer
It dramatically increases efficiency and creative exploration You can brainstorm limitless concepts fix problems in postproduction and automate tedious tasks freeing up time for the core creative work
Advanced Practical Questions
6 How are fashion photographers adapting to this change
They are becoming AIaugmented creatives This involves learning prompt engineering using AI for previsualization focusing more on art direction and concept over technical execution and developing hybrid skills that blend traditional photography with digital AI artistry
7 What are the ethical and legal concerns
Major issues include
Copyright Who owns an AIgenerated image The photographer the AI company or is it public domain
Authenticity The rise of deepfakes and perfectly generated models raises questions about truth in advertising and representation