The Barbie Fashion Model Photoshoot

Yes, you read the title correctly. The famous female Mattel toy has photoshoots, and they are actually quite extravagant. When I first saw this I thought it was a joke but after doing some research I found that Mattel designer Robert Best has big production photoshoots like this for all his Barbie Fashion Model Collections. The photographer is Paul Jordan at Mattel, and the final products are really interesting considering these are just toys. If you don't want to go through all the set building and fashion lighting required to get these photos, you can always use a simple reflector just like this Barbie fashion photographer.

Behind the Scenes of a Barbie Fashion Model Photo Shoot from Paul Jordan on Vimeo.

The final images:

Patrick Hall's picture

Patrick Hall is a founder of Fstoppers.com and a photographer based out of Charleston, South Carolina.

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12 Comments

Beautiful!

I am speechless. I'd rather shoot this rather than Megan Fox..

That is intense. Some may say "Wow! All for THAT?!" but I understand. Barbie is a major brand for Mattel and I think attention to detail like this [with all the hard work attached to it] is necessary to produce the best imagery for this brand. I'd say it's no different than selling a soda can or shoes.

Wow, incredible. So much work must go into each shot, building a believable scene from scratch. I wonder how many people were evolved in the production? A few or many?

Whilst searching for the photographer I found this site. Now we can all have a photo shoot with Barbie!! lol

http://www.mattel.com/games/barbie-fashionistas-photo-shoot

they only kept ONE photo? hahah I want to see more for all the work put in !!

That is crazy, the amount of scene work is insane. I could see though this type of work being alot of fun though.

one of the camera men is Herve Grison i dont know if he is the still photographer but he is mentioned on the vimeo page this video is linked to.

The Photographer is Paul Jordan he is head photographer at Mattel toys in El Segundo.

All for one photo? That is ridiculous and seriously extravagant. Do people even buy Barbie dolls anymore?

This shoot was for the Barbie Collector line of dolls, and the outfit was designed by Robert Best (the goatee'd guy with the racing gloves) who was on Project Runway. Dolls like this retail from $75-$150 and are highly collectible. Not your usual pink box doll from Wal*Mart.

@Donnie: Yes. People do still buy Barbie dolls, especially the high-end collectible ones. My Mom left a basement full of Bob Mackie Barbies when she passed away. If I ever get around to selling them, I might have to pull a trick or two from this video. JJ Casas was talking about the brand of Barbie, and all you have to know is that Barbie has been a powerful symbol for women for 50+ years. Where there's a market, there's a way.

wow is right.