As I was sifting through attendees of past Ypulse Mashup events I noticed we had a professional photographer attend, and when I checked out her website, it appeared she offered sessions tailored specifically to teens and Millennials. Today I stumbled across a press release from an L.A. photographer (and former model) who is also offering photo sessions just for teens.

I thought back to when I was about to graduate high school and wanted to give my parents a portrait of me and my sister — something other than the typical school photos or Sears sitting. I had a friend whose father was a photographer — he shot in black and white a lot — which I thought would be perfect. I booked a session and paid for it with money I made working part-time at a health food restaurant.

What is striking about those photos and his style was that they were completely natural. No make up, just us. I feel like one of my grandmothers even commented about how "unattractive" they were in part because they weren't airbrushed at all. You could call them the "anti-glamor shots" — which as many of us remember were the popular photo sessions you could do at the mall (and were perfectly captured in the film "Napoleon Dynamite").

What I thought was interesting about Amanda's photo sessions (the L.A. photographer) was that they simulate magazine shoots:

"I was inspired to create the teen portrait line by my modeling days and my love for editorials," Elkins said. "I have been able to create a whole session based on each teen individually while making it fun and stylish. I want each one to feel like one of those girls or boys in the magazines they read."

I'm sure this would appeal to some teen girls — just as the artsier, more natural photos might appeal to today's teens with more of my sensibility. And of course, there is the reality that with teens having become so prolific in documenting themselves digitally, these types of photo sessions might feel unnecessary or even like a luxury in these tough economic times. Even so, it's obviously a market photographers are pursuing….

I'm curious as to whether any Ypulse readers ever ventured outside of "school pictures" for professional photographs of themselves as teens (whether they were actual headshots, mall glamor shots or artsy photos)? It's Friday, feel free to reminisce in the comments!

For more coverage of youth marketing, go to the Ypulse Youth Marketing Channel sponsored by Youth Marketing Connection.

Categorized under: Youth Marketing

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