The fashion industry thrives because of the way clothing is represented in the media and the aspirations this shapes. As an extension of fashion, fashion photography echoes the systemic imbalances and inequities present, and deeply rooted, in the fashion system.
PAIS is an ethical photography agency focused on carbon-neutral and socially impactful fashion productions. Self-taught photographer and founder of PAIS Agency Eunice Pais, who is based in Portugal, believes that ethical image-making means finding as many ways possible to visually co-create with people’s dignity and the environment’s well-being in mind. Eunice, started professional photography in 2017, says:
I have always loved fashion and how an image can convey something beyond words.
When she started, Eunice only worked with ethical brands, which prompted her to learn more about sustainable and ethical fashion. The more she learned, the more she realised she wanted her photographic practice to align with the ethos of the movement. “I continued my photographic practice, while experimenting with ways to create without too much waste and with more inclusively.”
Visual storytelling is a waste-led practice with the food waste, packaging, cutlery, single-use props, camera equipment, travel, and clothes involved in a fashion editorial. In addition, there are all too many stories about the lack of social and cultural considerations in fashion media including tokenism, misrepresentation, under-representation, cultural appropriation, and inequities in work opportunities.
Even in the ethical fashion industry, Eunice noticed a gap between conscious production and the lack of care extended to the models who wore the clothes and with waste-laden shoots. It was in this gap that PAIS began to forge its way into Eunice’s mind.
It was during the initial COVID-19 lockdowns that Eunice launched PAIS. “I attended a class by the Slow Factory: ‘Sustainability 101 crash course’, and the topic was ‘Equity-Centred Design and Design Justice’ taught by the brilliant Ibada Wadud. Once the class was over, I drafted the company in 20 minutes,” she adds, “I had the ideas and the intention. All that was missing was a framework on which to base the company. I found it that evening.”
Three years later, PAIS has worked with brands such as Tonlé, Mulxiply, and Elementum, as well as created an array of collaborative shoots that act as an experimental space for ethically driven creatives. PAIS is dedicated to addressing systemic imbalances in fashion photography and championing ethical photographic practices.
To address the systemic imbalances in fashion photography Eunice has created a set of practices that are good for the environment and for people. “This starts with decentralising knowledge, sharing, and drawing from industries that are already breaking ground in this regard.”
PAIS ensures that every project they embark on is collaborative. Checking in with everyone involved and ensuring that they feel comfortable is a simple, but effective, collaborative practice. Eunice says:
A simple ‘what does working with dignity mean to you?’ goes a long way.
Another practice Eunice implements to balance historically inequitable practices is normalising conversations about money. She explains, “Working with super small brands has forced me to discuss money comfortably with every person involved in each project, as it is always a potential issue. That is one of the ways of decentralising work and artistic processes – it translates into a more equitable practice.”
When it comes to reducing waste, it is often the simplest practices that PAIS remains consistently committed to. They use the same props and accessories across multiple shoots, ensure that shoot locations don’t require excessive travelling, hire equipment locally, and re-purpose what already exists.
Many of PAIS’ visual projects include natural elements. “The acknowledgment that we are nature is the catalyst of many of the projects PAIS embarks on,” says Eunice. Part of her practical explorations about how to make fashion photography a pursuit of sustainability involves, visually, tending to the “purely ideological” separation between humans and nature that lies at the root of so much extractive behaviour.
In the movement for a more equitable fashion system, beautiful, tender images help make sustainable fashion aspirational and amplify the stories of lesser-known, or sustainable fashion brands and practitioners. She says:
Visual storytelling transcends language. It’s a pathway to beauty and awe, which is an elevated state of being.
While photography has an ability to tug on our heartstrings, invoke questioning, and inspire new possibilities, it comes an unspoken responsibility to create visual narratives that tell stories of a more inclusive, just, and sustainable fashion future. PAIS is approaching this responsibility with the kind of gentleness, slowness, and intention needed in the urgency of our time.
- Images by PAIS. Supplied by Eunice Pais.
- To learn more about PAIS’ work, check out their website and follow them on Instagram @pais.agency
