Advertising photography keeps evolving, shaping how consumers see brands through powerful visuals and storytelling. In the coming year, brands are moving past outdated looks and embracing hyper-realistic AI images, immersive 3D photography, and emotional storytelling. These major trends will catch consumers’ attention, spark urgency, improve brand recognition, and boost sales. That’s why brands and photographers alike need to stay on top of what’s trending in the year ahead.

To help you out, this blog covers all the key advertising photography trends that are set to take over in the next year.

Trend #1: Sustainability-Focused Visuals

Consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious, so much so that they want to know how a product or service impacts the planet. This has led brands to adopt sustainability-focused visuals that match their ethical values and responsible practices while resonating emotionally with the consumers. Visually showcasing this commitment helps businesses stay relevant and build stronger connections with their audience. 

Owing to this trend, advertising photographers are using organic textures, natural lighting, recycled materials, and more in their shots. Also, they are keen on highlighting biodegradable packaging and processes that the brand uses to reduce carbon footprint and improve brand image. For instance, major beauty brands like The Body Shop are incorporating sustainability-focused visuals by showcasing their products with eco-friendly packaging, compostable wrapping, and refillable containers.

Trend #2: Authentic And Unfiltered Photography

This is one of the most significant trends in commercial advertising photography as consumers are getting tired of overly staged and edited images and craving for something real. Authentic photography in advertising mainly features real individuals rather than models, natural expressions, and real-life moments to create unfiltered and relatable images. Its goal is to create emotional connections by humanizing the brand and emphasizing imperfection that further reveals authenticity and personality. A great example of this is Dove, which has adopted this trend by showcasing real skin tones and textures in its advertising campaigns instead of projecting unrealistic portrayals of flawless skin.

So, this photography trend will continue to grow and help bridge the gap between businesses and their audience, building loyalty and engagement. It will also help brands convey their commitment to sincerity over superficiality, resonating with potential clients who prioritize honesty.

Trend #4: Inclusive and Diverse Storytelling

Inclusive and diverse storytelling in advertising photography is not just a trend but a necessary shift toward a broader and more accurate reflection of the consumer base. Brands in the upcoming year will utilize the storytelling trend in their imagery and create more relatable and authentic campaigns that will resonate with their diverse audiences. This diverse representation, inclusive of different backgrounds and identities, not only boosts customer loyalty but also aligns with social and corporate responsibility.

Consumers today are increasingly aware of a brand’s values and expect brands to make meaningful contributions to social change. For example, the SKIMS’ Adaptive Collection campaign, launched by Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand, showcases models with disabilities, including wheelchair users and individuals with limb differences. 

A commercial advertising photographer showcasing this inclusivity can help brands demonstrate their willingness to engage with real-world issues and fight for rights. Thus, inclusive advertising photography opens the door to a wider market, leading to increased reach, engagement, and sales.

Trend #5: Immersive 3D And Augmented Reality (AR) Photography

Immersive 3D photography involves creating hyper-realistic, three-dimensional product visuals that allow customers to explore every angle with lifelike detail. Meanwhile, AR photography blends digital elements with real-world environments, enabling consumers to interact with products virtually using their smartphones, tablets, or AR headsets. These advanced visual technique offers a highly interactive experience that static images cannot match, making this game-changing trend rise to the top. 

This trend changes traditional product photography by offering the audience an experimental way to engage and helps brands shine in the crowded advertising space. For instance, brands like Gucci and Dior have integrated AR-powered ads on social media platforms, allowing users to ‘try on’ products like sunglasses or sneakers through their smartphone cameras. This helps the audience visualize how the products will look on them in real time before making a purchase, breaking away from traditional two-dimensional advertising and bridging the gap between online and offline shopping.

Additionally, photographers providing AR-powered advertising photography and videography services create a sense of immersion and bring in-store shopping material to digital platforms. This reduces uncertainty and increases buyer confidence.

Trend #6: Minimalist Aesthetic With A Focus On Negative Space

Minimalism has been a powerful trend in advertising photography for years, but in the coming year, it’s set to take the spotlight with a focus on negative space. This trend highlights simplicity, clean backdrops, soft, natural light, and the intentional use of empty space to highlight a product or brand message. It strips away all the extras and keeps the core subject front and center, creating balance and drawing the viewer’s eye right to the product or service. This trend will pick up even more momentum next year as the market, overwhelmed by cluttered visuals, looks for clean imagery that delivers its message. This helps grab attention and improves how people see the brand.

On top of that, negative space makes it easier to add text overlays like call-to-actions (CTAs) and brand messaging, which will boost this trend’s popularity—especially in digital ads and on social media.

Trend #7: Mobile-First Advertising Photography

The majority of consumers are engaging with content through their smartphones, which makes mobile-first advertising photography one of the top trends that will keep ruling. Social media and E-Commerce platforms have also started allowing direct shopping through images, creating the need for shoppable images, vertical formats, and carousel ads. This has led the brand to ensure that its visuals are optimized for mobile screens and deliver high-impact images that capture the attention of the audience scrolling through shopping apps and mobile websites. For instance, Nike’s mobile-first campaigns on social media platforms utilize vertical images that seamlessly blend with users’ feeds, while their carousel ads showcase different angles of a product.

Additionally, advertising photographers must utilize bold compositions with vertical (9:16) and square (1:1) aspect ratios to ensure full-screen visibility, impacting framing and branding. Photographers must also use AI-driven mobile editing tools and adaptive photography techniques like background removal and auto-cropping for different images and video compatibility with various platforms. These photography services ensure that your advertising images maintain high quality across various mobile formats.

Trend #8: Motion Photography (Cinemagraphs)

Cinemagraph is a hybrid between a photo and a video, where a subtle and continuous motion occurs within the still image. This instantly grabs the attention of viewers and keeps them engaged for a longer time compared to a traditional static image. Motion Photography (Cinemagraphs) will stay on top even in the next year for its ability to enhance brand storytelling. For instance, steam rising from a coffee cup or a gently flickering candle in a home decor ad will capture more visual interest. Since the cinemagraphs stand out among static visuals, they often result in higher click-through rates and better conversion rates. 

This commercial photography trend specifically caters to shorter attention spans as they load quickly, loop seamlessly, and do not need sound, making them perfect for website banners, social media campaigns, and showcasing products or services. It can also work as a compelling strategy to improve brand awareness and boost sales.

Trend #9: Typography Integration

Typography integration is an impactful trend that combines oversized and eye-catching fonts with photography to make the message stand out. This involves styles like 3D lettering, embossed effects, neon-style text, and even handwritten fonts, depending on the brand’s identity and messaging goals. This trend is gaining more momentum due to its instant visual impact, which is perfect for a time when people quickly scroll past content. Luxury fashion brands like Balenciaga and Prada have successfully used bold typography over black-and-white imagery in their ad campaigns. 

As minimalistic visuals remain the priority of advertising product photography, bold typography enables brands to maintain a clean aesthetic while still delivering a powerful message. Further, custom typography can help improve brand recognition as businesses consistently use fonts on visuals to create a different identity that their potential customers can remember.

Conclusion

Now that you know the top trends of the upcoming year, it’s time to capture impactful visuals that will keep your brand relevant. So, book a photo studio at Grattan Studio today and create eye-catching visuals that truly connect with your audience!