How Threadless adds a Wink and a Nod to Product Photography :)

For many trained, creative photographers, taking product shots may seem like the equivalent of earning a culinary degree only to flip burgers at a fast-food chain. It’s not exactly the most stimulating environment, nor does it push one’s talents to the limit.
Sean Dorgan, photo manager for the Chicago-based online apparel brand Threadless, said he’s heard it all before.
“I used to tell people that I work at this T-shirt company,” Dorgan said. “And they’re like, ‘Oh, that sucks.’ Because they think it’s boring.”
But as anyone who has ever shopped for one of Threadless’ shirts or stepped into the graffiti-laden warehouse of its mother ship, SkinnyCorp – which sources its designs from, helps expose the work of, and puts the printing choices in the hands of a community of artists – already knows, Threadless is no ordinary company. And its photography department has elevated the generic product shot to an art form in and of itself, and could be credited for much of the company’s appeal.

The boys and girls of Threadless’ photo team (clockwise, from top left): Craig Shimala, Nicole Carlson, Jen Lemasters, and Sean Dorgan.

The fact that there is even a photography department – consisting of Dorgan, photographer/retoucher Nicole Carlson, photography assistant Jen Lemasters, and Bandit, a dog that “doesn’t have much to say, but [is] awesome,” Dorgan said – is a sign of the immense success the company has experienced since being founded in 2000. Six years ago, Dorgan was the sole staff photographer.
“When I started here, when it was just me, there were maybe nine new designs released per week,” Dorgan explained. “And now, it can be hundreds. That’s quite an exponential growth of releases…every week there’s literally 10-20 times the amount of stuff than we used to put out about five or six years ago.”