I've been getting a lot of requests lately from photogs and even female models to shoot images with them that are "edgy".

Does it mean more than just nudes or controversial subject matter, or is it a catch-all term like "sexy" or "out of the box"?

What is your definition of of "edgy"?

Edgy = I have no idea what I really want so I'm going to use this overused word that I think makes me sound cool.

edgy could mean from more then boring stuff  to very erotic.  best to ask for photo examples to describe what they really wants.  a picture can say more then a thousand words.

I understood it to refer to Cutting EDGE.

That is avant garde, daring, shocking.

I don't know why people think it's just nudity. Nudity in itself isn't cutting edge. You don't look at old paintings and see nudes and say that's edgy.

It usually means something that in terms of concept may be daring, or styled with a leaning to something entirely unconventional or alternative, or either depicting social taboos or questioning existing social norms beahviours and icons. An example of the latter would be Dali's the Cricifiction or pop Art images at the time. Or all together.

In fashion photography it can often include nudity, or social situations or beahviours that one is questioning, or glamorizing when they shouldn't be, or both :eg heroin chic at the time. So drug taking references, smoking etc are often given to be edgy. They shock in a fashion magazine. By the same token, a quite accepted behaviour can be lampooned attacked or parodied quite often in an inside -out manner (so fashion often lampoons and attacks itself) or in a totally surreal way. So for example if I wanted to do a fashion shoot I may decide to use dwarfs on a catwalk and that may be edgy. On the other hand while that may shock and question norms, just doing it for the sake of it can be quickly seen as cliched. So shock or bad taste alone is not enough.

Here's an example of a famous fashion shoot by Miesel that one could say was edgy and has just about ALL those elements. The questioning of artifical beauty and the lengths that we go to achieve it, the cost, etc plus it has smoking in a hospital etc plus surgery plus provocative nudity in a surreal situation plus real furs when at the time they were not socially acceptable by UK Vogue etc. This really kicks it in and is definitely edgy. 'Makeover Madness' with Linda Evangelista Missy Rayder Jessica Stam and Julia Stegner for Italian Vogue



More here:
http://dustyburrito.blogspot.co.uk/2010 … lista.html

Daring, provocative, questioning, disturbing, dystopian, ....but utimately shows off fashion therefore give those fashions edge and desirability.

I don't know, but I'm guessing it means a different thing to TR than to most of the ladies at the church!








Just my $0.02 etc. etc.

Edgy to me = Hitchcock, suspense.........

me, apparently.

I think I'd definitely consider that Italian vogue shoot edgy. Also kind of hilarious. It's like if Lars Von Trier did a fashion shoot. Lol

It's funny, I think that it has a pretty clear meaning. Some people just decide it means something else, like, I don't know, naked.

In general, "Edgy" will mean unconventional. A fashion shot that is beautiful but with perfectly placed hair, a natural pose and even lighting, would be conventionally beautiful, not edgy.

Just like "edgy models" tend to have more literal edge to their face; it isn't soft, rounded features, not the conventional form of beauty.

Mostly straight forward, the edge of modern conventions - whatever those may be at the time.  So it's really a moving target; at one time it was two piece swimsuits and another it was men in skirts.

Just ask for examples, mood boards, story board or whatever - saves a lot of trouble


P.S. if they just mean nudes, well that has not been edgy for a few decades IMHO

edgy. close to the edge. of what...porny, dangerous, mediocre, original? guess it depends on the brain spewing the term.