One of my repeat clients, Allianz Insurance, commissioned this project, and it allowed me another opportunity to hone the art of directing real people, not models or actors, to their best performance for the shot.
The brief appealed to my documentary roots at first, but I shifted my style in a enviro-portrait direction to accommodate the wide range of applications that the images would be used for.
The client quite rightly felt that there was very little in existing stock that suited their needs, and wanted to use real people, in real situations-their own jobs, with a definite sense that we are looking at real Australians.
There were some pretty stressful challenges in getting the right talent and locations logistics sorted within the budget constraints, not to mention the curve ball thrown by the weather, but I'm proud to say the images portray, for the most part, people in their actual jobs, in their actual workplaces. In fact, the situations where hired talent had to be used, I found less convincing
I wanted to hero the subjects subtly with lighting and casual pose, but keep it feeling natural. We scheduled around the weather for the outdoor shots, as hard sunlight is a strong differentiating factor when trying to make images look more Australian.
Our ÜberProducer Penni pulled absolute miracles with regards to talent, locations and even weather prediction, and needed a relaxing massage by the end of the shoot.
Cherith Crozier did a cracker of a job in the styling, and together with myself and AD Sarah Straker, we had a solid team with a clear direction throughout the shoot.
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