3 Photography Trends Shaping Brand Marketing in 2025

Creating lasting impressions with still photography is challenging in today's saturated visual landscape. Audiences crave authenticity and emotional connection, making impactful imagery more crucial than ever. Stills, a leading photo licensing platform, highlights three key photography trends reshaping brand marketing in its Photography in Design Trend Report.

Candid Cameras

Consumers connect with genuine moments. Authenticity trumps perfection. Capturing real-life imperfections resonates more deeply than staged, unrealistic portrayals. While posed product shots have their place, unfiltered, candid photography fosters relatable connections with audiences.

Rawness equals relatability. Audiences quickly detect disingenuous content. Embrace imperfection and capture authentic moments to build trust.

Flash Drive

Flash photography is making a comeback. This time-tested technique evokes nostalgia, particularly for the Y2K era, with its direct lighting and vivid subject isolation. This effortlessly cool style resonates with audiences seeking a retro aesthetic.

Bold visuals create relatability, while monochromatic imagery can appear aloof. The overly polished aesthetic of the 2010s is fading. Content creator Victoria Stefania predicts, "We're going to see more flash photography that displays the real and raw."

"There’s a higher need for things to feel authentic and 'real' in the digital space as we move forward." - Victoria Stefania

Abstract Appeal

Textural and abstract images offer a different kind of authenticity. These visuals create a tangible, sensory experience for the audience, forging a deeper connection.

Balancing digital precision with raw reality adds depth and emotional range to photography. UK-based content creator and brand designer Robert McCombe describes this trend as "a fusion of pre-tech and modern design, digital and physical, leaving a more lasting impression."

Building genuine connections is timeless. Imagery is crucial for sparking that connection and making a strong first impression. Brands seeking success in 2025 should prioritize authentic, impactful visuals. As the Stills trend report emphasizes, "Trends come and go, but providing a genuine connection is timeless...You cannot compromise on the critical piece that sparks that connection: the imagery."

Learn more about these trends and other top commercial photography insights in the full Stills report.