Ask A Photographer: What’s the Difference Between Commercial Photography and Editorial Photography?
Understanding how interior and architecture photography is used, licensed, and published
By Stacy Markow
If you’ve ever wondered whether the photographs of your latest project are considered commercial or editorial photography, the answer isn’t always as straightforward as it sounds.
The same photograph can sometimes be used in both ways.
What matters is how and where the image is being used.
For interior designers, architects, builders, artists, and other design professionals, understanding the difference can help you plan a photoshoot more strategically, particularly if you want the images to support both your marketing and future publication opportunities.
What Is Commercial Photography?
Commercial photography is created or licensed to help a business market its work, services, or products.
For a design professional, that can include photography used on:
Your website and portfolio
Social media
Digital and print marketing
Advertising
Client presentations
Awards submissions
Promotional materials
If an interior designer commissions photography of a completed project and uses those photographs throughout their website and marketing, that is commercial use.
The photography is helping communicate the designer’s work and build the business.
And while several businesses may have contributed to the same project, that doesn’t necessarily mean they all share the same photography license.
The interior designer, architect, builder, furniture maker, product manufacturer, and other project partners are separate businesses with their own commercial uses. Depending on the photography agreement, collaborators may need their own license to use the images.
What Is Editorial Photography?
Editorial photography is used to accompany a story, article, feature, or other piece of editorial content.
In the design world, the most familiar example is a project being featured by a magazine or design publication.
The purpose of the photograph changes in this context. Instead of directly marketing a business or service, the image is helping illustrate a story.
That distinction is important because editorial use describes how an image is being used, not necessarily why the photograph was originally created.
A photograph commissioned by an interior designer for their portfolio might later appear in an editorial feature about the project.
The photograph itself hasn't changed. Its use has.
Can the Same Images Be Both Commercial and Editorial?
Absolutely.
In fact, this is one of the reasons I encourage designers to think about potential publication opportunities before we photograph a project.
A strong project gallery can serve multiple purposes.
You may use the images commercially on your website, portfolio, social media, and marketing materials while also submitting select photographs to publications for editorial consideration.
Planning for both from the beginning can influence the photographs we create.
For example, your marketing may benefit from detailed images that communicate materials, craftsmanship, or a signature design moment. A publication may need a broader visual story, including establishing photographs, room-to-room relationships, architectural context, and details that help an editor tell the story of the project.
Commercial Use and Editorial Use Aren't the Same as Copyright
This is where photography terminology can get confusing.
Hiring a photographer does not automatically mean purchasing the copyright to the photographs.
In most professional photography relationships, the photographer retains copyright and grants the client a license outlining how the images may be used.
That license might include uses such as your website, portfolio, social media, marketing, advertising, awards submissions, or editorial submissions.
This is also why project collaborators shouldn't assume that receiving a photograph from another member of the project team automatically gives them permission to use it commercially.
The license determines who can use the photography and for what purposes.
Why This Matters Before Your Photoshoot
Photography is most valuable when it is planned around what you need the images to accomplish.
Before photographing a project, I like to understand not only what needs to be documented, but where the photographs are ultimately going to live.
Are you rebuilding your portfolio?
Do you need images for an upcoming marketing campaign?
Is this a project you hope to submit for publication?
Are there architects, builders, artists, or other collaborators who may also want to license the photography?
Those conversations help shape the shot list and determine how comprehensively we photograph the project.
A project intended primarily for a portfolio may require a different emphasis than one being photographed with a specific editorial story in mind.
Photographing With the Final Use in Mind
Commercial and editorial photography aren't necessarily two completely different types of photographs.
They're often two different uses of thoughtfully planned photography.
For designers and other creative professionals, the goal is to create a body of images flexible enough to support the life of the project after the photoshoot, from your portfolio and marketing to awards, press, and editorial opportunities.
That starts before the camera ever comes out.
By considering the audience, potential uses, collaborators, and publication goals during creative production planning, we can build a shot list that does more than document a beautiful space. We can create a visual library designed to support where you want the project, and your business, to go next.
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