Page 11 - Capture Nov-Jan 2021

Concept and authenticity seem to be king. Dana Neibert
a look back at 2020 advertising
2021’s desires
If the gorgeous glossy image is no longer a
leading feature of advertising photography,
what is likely to matter in the future?
Randal Ford is very clear in his answer. “A
beautiful picture will always matter. What
has shifted is that audiences no longer see a
super retouched image as genuine or
authentic. So, gorgeous imagery is timeless
and will always matter so long as it’s handled delicately in post production. I believe we’re heading to a good place in the style of ad photography where snapshots and overly retouched photography are taking a backseat to more timeless, cinematic, beautiful images.” Neibert’s answer expands on the importance of authenticity. “Concept and authenticity seem to be king. Just an image of a shiny sports car is no longer enough to break through the clutter. If your image has a concept that sparks an interest in the consumer, then I feel they are more likely to remember and identify with the product.”
Smetana now does 70% motion to 30% photography. “But that 30% is getting better, and the C-word (craft), which was really unpopular for a while, is coming back because photography is still an expensive medium. There has been an underlying attitude of producing massive amounts of content, but I feel it’s the opposite now. People are happy to pay more money and get good work. I think that goes back to the need to stand out, because there is so much of everything.”
Photography that made the work, work
For Brady and Colenso there was GoStrong for Anchor milk, with photographer, Al Guthrie. “Based on the idea that the physical strength obtained from milk leads to inner strength enabling you to give anything a go, we profiled some amazing people who we felt demonstrated huge inner strength. Guthrie captured stand-alone portraits as well as stills around the film shoot.”
For Les Mills International’s ultra-intensity group fitness programme, Grit, Colenso wanted to convey the heat of the class in the images. “We collaborated with Mat Baker who wanted to capture the heat in-camera and used a long exposure combined with separate flash shots to great effect. For Skinny Broadband, its customers became the talent for Friendvertising, the thinking being that with the NZ population being pretty small, if we shot enough people, the chances of you knowing one of them were pretty high. The idea was to have all of the cast do the same thumbs-p happy customer pose, but put their own spin on it. A mottled orange background gave the photos an awkward school photo vibe. This could so easily have been really bad, but the styling and awkward poses really made the series for me,” Brady says.
For Barrow and VMLY&R in Australia, it was the photography- led campaign for OzFish, an organisation of fishers who look after the country’s waterways. “It needed to connect with the fishing world to establish more chapters and recruit more members. Our idea was based on the insight that anyone who catches a fish proudly takes a photo showing it off to the camera. We flipped this notion and instead shot the images with the focus being on the water in the background. The shots are designed in a way to make
people look again and figure out what’s wrong. A small headline reads, ‘It’s time to focus on our waterways’.
Cory White was chosen because his work is uniquely Australian in its visual language, yet not over-produced. The outdoor ads were supported by a cover take-over of Fishing World.” For over 50 years, the cover of the magazine has featured a person holding their catch to camera. Now, for the first time ever, the image was out of focus. Just one month after the magazine came out, OzFish had people apply to start eight new chapters across the country and membership went up 590% – the majority of which came via the magazine. All that just from a simple idea but executed flawlessly through photography.”
LEFT: Part of the Audi S3 campaign, The Car You’ve Always Wanted Agency: BMF Chief Creative Officer:
Alex Derwin Group Creative Director:
Ant Hatton
CONTACTS
Jake Barrow
Dave Brady Randal Ford Esther Haase Sean Izzard
Dana Neibert Andreas Smetana
vmlyr.com colensobbdo.co.nz randalford.com estherhaase.com www.seanizzard.com www.dananeibert.com smetana.net
PHOTOGRAPHY INSURANCE
SPECIALISTS.
Protecting you and your livelihood, no matter where the art takes you.
1300 306 571
photo@midlandinsurance.com.au
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