Consider the late, great Richard Avedon. His is a name that commands nearly as huge a following as the fashionable jet-set he immortalized on film. But the days of rose-tinted Zeiss Planar lenses have faded, leaving us with modern photographic paraphernalia better left to fans of Yfrog than Yu Tsai. When the blogosphere is overrun with digicam-wielding tweens, is it any wonder we’re nostalgic for the visionary éclat of shutterbugs past?

Enter the graduating class of London College of Fashion’s BA in Fashion Photography. The third installment of its annual exhibit, Capsule, is a prolific showcase that demonstrates a fierce allegiance to the form while breaking new ground in technology and narrative. Held at the prestigious Richard Young Gallery in High Street Kensington, the exhibition (through July 11) features the portfolios of some 47 students, encompassing everything from product photography to high-octane fashion editorials.

For instance, Turi Lovik Kirknes and Tean Roberts opted for midrange portraits in lush nature settings, resulting in dreamscapes that are at once ethereal and feral (and best sampled with a This Mortal Coil record). Kahlen Younsun Jung presented abstractions of silhouette and color gradations, but eighty-sixed the doom and gloom for an arresting—and surprisingly moving—study of teenage idealism. But it was 28-year-old Sandra Madelane who bagged top honors for her witty, minimalist take on consumerism with roots in the French Surrealist movement.

Capsule #3, Richard Young Gallery, 4 Holland Street, London W84LT