The Domestic Stage

A Financial Times Book of the Year

A bold exploration of the role of the domestic interior in fashion photography and its importance in defining a new kind of fashion image.

For three decades, the fashion image has shifted its focus from high-end shoots to the idiosyncratic, Instagram-style practice of pictures taken at home. That home may be a house, apartment or room – often, though not always, the antithesis of glamour and gloss.

The Domestic Stage captures this fascination with the home as an 'uncurated' setting for presenting an individual’s private life and relationships, and for professional commissions with edge. Those behind the camera come from very different places, but all celebrate a sense of inventiveness and empowerment from working in the domestic space. How this space merged with the fashion image is revealed through the words and work of twenty-two such image-makers, most of whom talked personally to author Adam Murray. They include the pioneering Nigel Shafran; International Magic, who created virtual fashion shows with Martine Rose during the pandemic; and Carrie Mae Weems, whose 2024 Bottega Veneta campaign truly came 'home' – to show A$AP Rocky enjoying time with his children.

Each and every contributor’s commentary is candid and revealing, their images even more so. The result is a provocative new take on fashion photography and its transformation in recent years.