New Findings Suggest the Creative Trends for Photographers in 2019

The team over at Shutterstock are back once again with their flagship report anticipating the visual styles that will be adopted by photographers and creatives in the year that follows. Will you be embracing these new trends in 2019?

Now in its eighth year, American stock photography provider Shutterstock has crunched the numbers and scoured through their billions of search requests and downloads to analyze what trends are currently popular or just around the corner. These findings form the basis of their creative trends report, and this year's recommendations have just been published.

I always make a point of reading this report, as I like to get a picture of what trends or themes may be asked of me from my clients while on a shoot. Sometimes, it's good to know the trends, so you can embrace them, while on other occasions, you may want to avoid certain things if you think they will be played out by the masses or date too quickly in your portfolio. Regardless, the findings that are based on actual numbers are a useful insight, which us mere mortals don't usually get access to.

One of the major trends this year is "Zine Culture," which I can see working great for photographers who want to send our marking material to prospective clients in 2019. Another major trend that was highlighted was something they are calling "Yesterday's Tomorrow." Think old school video games and futuristic landscapes. I'm sure many of you have seen the popularity of photographers using colored gels and neon colors in their work last year, and 2019 looks like this stylistic throwback will continue on for a good while yet. A rising trend that I think is well worth taking note of is that of "Rococo Romance." Vintage patterns, old world paintings, and dramatic flourishes seem set to influence photoshoots. If you were thinking of channeling your inner Rembrandt, now could be a very good time too.

The report closes with "Global Trends," which highlights the fastest growing trends in 20 countries around the world. This section is particularly interesting to see how things vary from place to place. If you're planning on targeting a new territory with your marketing this year, then knowing what's hot could help to keep you relevant in those places.

For us photographers, I do think it's important we know which trends have been announced each year so we can stay ahead of the curve or avoid them entirely. If billions of designers, art directors, and marketers are searching for certain things online, then you can expect some of these trends to be taking center stage in 2019.

Read the full report here.

Will you be embracing these trends or avoiding them like the plague? We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Lead image used with permission of Shutterstock