The 11 Best Indianapolis Fashion Photographers

Here in Indianapolis, we’ve got plenty of hidden secrets the rest of the country knows pretty much nothing about — and hey, that’s just fine with us. We’ll happily just rest on the merit of the work we put out. And in this guide, you’ll all get a small feel for the type of talent we’ve got tucked away here in Indianapolis. We’ve got brilliant strategic thinkers, artists, and thought leaders — propped up by intellectuals, energetic youngsters, and tons of great beer.

The 10 artists we’re highlighting today as the best Indianapolis fashion photographers are out there making good things happen for themselves. Nothing’s been given to them easily — and that’s just how they like it. Some of them have made a name for themselves with a sustained career of greatness, while others are on the up and up. But they’re all originals, carving out a safer space for themselves and their kind. Check them out.

1. Polina Osherov

Polina Osherov is an Indianapolis fashion photographer with an otherworldly sense of style. She boasts an uncanny ability for designing striking sets and scenes for her fashion photos. As editor-in-chief of Pattern Magazine, she’s also intimately involved with the local art scene. She helps highlight up-and-coming artists, as well as keeps a finger on the pulse of art, design, and music. As a fashion photographer, she has a style that’s both futuristic and wild, yet restrained — and it is this element of restraint that makes you stop and probe her photos more deeply, trying to suss out their mysteries.

2. Jay Goldz

Jay Goldz is a super-talented photographer who always seems down for big, elaborate shoots. He’s able to bend his style to fit the parameters of his shoot, all while serving as an able guide and tastemaker to ensure that no shoot under his watch ever settles for what’s just good enough. His style is smooth, sexy, and thoughtful. If you’re a model looking to build a portfolio of eye-catching, genuinely unique looks —– looks that will get you noticed —– or a brand seeking an artist to distill your brand’s greatest draw into something enticing and relatable, Jay Goldz is the name to remember.

3. Elie Bucklin

Clean, beautiful, and plaintive describes the style of the mastermind behind Eliana M Photography. Elie Bucklin produces photographs that have a sense of faith in humanity that could almost be described as Utopian. The dynamism in her photos comes from the strong impression that, in each photo, we’re stepping into the lives of her models at just the moment things are about to change for good. That uncanny quality goes a long way toward making her photographs feel alive. Stylistically, she has a strong sense of balance and symmetry, such that she’s able to lay out even the most chaotic natural backgrounds, and all the sight lines seem to converge right at her model’s heart. It is quite a striking effect, whether you notice it consciously or subliminally.

4. Tobechukwu Nwosu

Tobechukwu Nwosu has a natural gift for portraiture. We actually discovered his work more or less on accident. We kept seeing his portraits in the feeds of some of the hashtags we keep an eye on, and then every time we’d dig into those portraits, we’d be like, “Dang, all this is the same guy. His stuff is hot.” If you want to work with someone who sees the world differently without the need to defend that fact — and just has a knack for showing that point of view in a way that instantly connects — then check Tobechuku Nwosu’s photos out. He is bound to be going places with a style this natural and fresh.

5. Johnson Daniel of Heznada Studios

Johnson Daniel of Heznada Studios is a do-it-all photographer, videographer, designer, and trendsetter. His photos are gorgeous, humorous, and wise, playing games with color and light that we really vibe with. His portraiture is all about connection. You’ll see none of the tricks other photographers use to try to create distance between you and their photos. His photos invite you in to pore over the glorious colors and explore all the perfectly rendered textures. It takes tremendous skill to create work this friendly that is also this strikingly unique. When you see that mix of humanity and individuality, you know you’ve found a photographer worth learning from.

6. Willyum Baulkey

Willyum Baulkey has had his work featured in Vogue Italia and The New York Times, just to name a couple. As a classically trained photographer, he’s clearly inspired not just by other artists, but also by the basic elements of his compositions. There’s a strange way in which the textures, patterns, and fabrics of his models seem to determine his scene and stage design, as if the backgrounds of his shots are somehow radiating out of his models. Of course, most photographers like to play with contrasts of texture and color — but that’s not what we’re talking about. There’s something far subtler and more striking in the composition of his photographs that really makes them worthy of studying closely.

7. Jake Moran

Jake Moran is an extremely insightful fashion photographer and cinematographer with and eye for creating scene and characterization in his photos, which must be at least somewhat derived from his experience as a filmmaker. In front of his camera, his models do more than just pose, they inhabit complete characters. And his careful composition is always a loving homage to the work his models put in to take his photos to the next level.

8. Spark Art Photography

Dave Fulton and his team of photographers at Spark Art Photography are among the premiere portrait photography organizations in Indianapolis. They have an extremely varied style that is quite difficult to encapsulate. In addition, they possess an eye for the lines and contours that make up the human face and form, as well as an uncanny ability to simplify and strip down elements in their photographs until all that remains is a minimalist, gorgeous work of art.

9. James Nethercott of Netherworks Photography

James Nethercott takes narrative genre-bending fashion photos, as well as portraits for individuals and event photography. Shooting photography in so many distinct lanes, he’s got a style that’s always able to mold itself to the purpose of the shoot. We appreciate artists who come to shoots with minimal preconceptions, and yet are able to guide them and mold them into something unique. His in-studio work is especially strong — allowing him to play with shadow, background, and light to create dramatic, almost dreamy photographs.

10. Linda of LV Love Photography

Linda of LV Love Photography takes magical, creative, ethereal photos that use a combination of makeup, framing, clever staging, and impeccable composition to create some of the most stunningly original fashion photography around. Some of her photos made us stop and say, “What?!” We simply try to make our best guess at how the photo was composed, and how she came up with the idea in the first place. Few photographers we’ve ever come across put so much effort into turning not just their models but everyday people into one-of-a-kind works of art.

11. Dauss Miller

Dauss Miller shoots some of the smoothest, most glamorous fashion photography in Indiana—or anywhere else, for that matter. Whether he’s going for vibrant, artistic high-fashion portraiture or understated classic editorial pieces, his work exhibits technical mastery and a keen attention to detail. In particular he’s known for his studio lighting skills, and any photographer can tell you that light is the photographer’s brush. With his, Miller paints his models as evocative and moody, complex mysteries wrapped in designer clothes, inviting the viewer to consider the entirety of the image more deeply.

If you are a model looking for a photographer to help you flush out your portfolio, a lifestyle brand seeking someone to help you take over the city, or another photographer — or even just an average person — wanting to feel inspired, then we think we’ve given you plenty to mull over.

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