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12.11.18 Joey L Embraces Warmth with Canada Goose
Even in August, the Arctic is a cold place. Almost five months ago, Joey L was on the Grinnell Glacier with Canada Goose shooting two of their campaigns for this winter, and while it was often raining, the ice held strong. They were on the Baffin Island in Nunavut, a territory of Canada populated almost entirely by the First Nations, the native population of Canada. It’s a place that Joey had never been before, and one he was keen to visit. “I’ve traveled to so many countries but I’ve seen so little of where I’m from so it was nice to do that shoot and really go out deep into the glacier,” Joey explains. “We were driving for hours in the helicopter; it was pretty far out.” The opportunity was to do something more than a fashion campaign, and bring the wider context of the Canada Goose brand into the story. So that’s what they did. Both campaigns engaged professionals with the product. They brought on adventurers and activists, explorers and a dog sled racer. These are the people who understand what it’s like to spend time in extreme weather conditions - they know how to wear the gear. In the second campaign, Generations of Warmth, Joey and Canada Goose invited family members and friends of their subjects to bring real relationships into the story. The marquee photograph of Sarain Fox, Indigenous Rights Activist and TV host, and her mother, Banakonda, was full of emotion - even more than anticipated. The close relationship between mother and daughter had been untended because of Sarain’s intense working schedule, but when they got their time together in the Arctic they immediately reconnected. Joey cleared the set and let them interact personally, brimming with emotion and quietly conversing. Then Joey gently called Sarain’s name, both she and her mother looked at Joey, and he took the picture. Sarain describes the moment as an outtake, it was such a light touch, but the result is a favorite from the campaign. Joey L and Canada Goose have been working together for years, and over that time Joey has witnessed how the brand has found a voice in the market. Each year they evolve, and this latest campaign, Generations of Warmth, has struck a chord with him. “I think this shoot solidified what I think they want which is raw, real human stories,” Joey explains. “It should be raw and photojournalistic but it also has to look elevated, and that’s what I think we accomplished” When we’re examining how a brand can self-identify, we have to go beyond surface definitions of expectations. When we see a beautiful photograph, we must demand more from it: story, humanity, emotion, authenticity. Joey L strove for all of that in these campaigns, and certainly succeeded with each one right after the other. -
11.30.18 Joe Pugliese Shows the Transformative Power of Haircuts on LA's Homeless
Sometimes the biggest impact comes from the smallest gestures. Jason Schneidman is a hairstylist and groomer that’s worked with Joe Pugliese on set for their jobs, but they recently collaborated on project that goes beyond the glitz of an editorial set. In his free time, Schneidman offers his time to cut the hair of homeless folk in Los Angeles, and after hearing about this ongoing service, Joe asked if he could document the process and people that Schneidman reaches out to. “It was important fo me to honor it in a very matter of fact way without building up the heavy sympathy approach that we see a lot,” Joe explains. “I just thought that this was a nice way into a singular thing that one person does that doesn’t necessarily change their lives but it might change their day… Do what you can with what you have and incrementally make somebody’s day better whether or not you change the world or change someone’s life is nearly here nor there.” The series offers a look at Schneidman’s process and the effect that a haircut can have. Like Joe says, the minutes in that chair and the human attention that Schneidman gives will not change the trajectory of their lives, but it does offer a human moment and the opportunity to feel good about themselves and the world they're living in. “I wanted to illustrate the transformative property of a simple haircut and I didn’t want to do it so much for the haircut but with their expressions,” Joe says. “I used a long lens to stay out of the action, and I was a sort of fly out of the way so they didn’t feel like there was a photoshoot. it was important to him that it not be a complicated set up. This wasn’t about photography.” Joe’s distance allowed for even more authentic moments so the transformation is ever clearer and deeper. Often, the photographs are less about the haircut and more about the connection between two people. Living on the streets can be isolating and stressful, but Schneidman gives his clients the opportunity to sit and connect with another person in a context that has no expectation or ulterior motive. “It looks like they’re happy to just be gently handled. They’re happy to have somebody who’s really caring for them in a way that is respectful,” Joe says. “There’s a level of trust that I think we all relate to even when we’re sitting in a barber’s chair… His interaction with them taught me a lot about how I interact with my subjects. And I saw a lot of the same trust building steps that he takes with his subjects that I tried to take with my photographic subjects.” As we approach a season of giving, Joe and Schneidman remind us that sometimes the best gift you can give is your time and attention. -
12.6.18 Pari Dukovic's Seemingly Unlikely Man of the Year for GQ
Henry Golding didn’t expect to be one of GQ’s Men of the Year. When the Crazy Rich Asians star started the year, he was following the typical grind of a Hollywood actor, trying to break out of the roster of auditioning talent and make an impression on directors and producers. He couldn’t know that his movie that released this summer would be the biggest rom-com release of the last decade and turning from a Malaysian TV host to an international leading man. That shock of career lines up perfectly with Pari Dukovic’s signature shock of color that makes his work so eminently recognizable. The power in Pari’s work comes not only from a technical mastery but also the energy injected through the host of hues he employs, and for Golding it adds a level of timelessness. Which is not ironic – it’s fitting. We shouldn’t talk around what’s made Crazy Rich Asians such a phenomenon. Sure, it’s based on a best-selling book series, had a great script, and was directly deftly with an incredible cast. But it’s also the proof to American audiences that Asian stories are worth telling (and to American studios that Asian actors can lead huge films). As we wait for Hollywood to catch up, we must grapple with the fact that our culture has systematically left Asian voices and faces out of our canon. The images that Pari created with GQ for this year’s Men of the Year story with Golding are immediately contemporary, but carry with them references and a feeling of the 60s and 70s, a time of huge image making that was focused on white faces. In a way, Pari is helping us all to catch up. As we move forward into a culture that represents all people, Pari gets to play with retro aesthetics and reconfigure our collective archive to include those who should have been included from the start. -
11.28.18 Paola + Murray Don't Freeze Up in Japan for Conde Nast Traveler
To hear it told, Northern Japan has some of the best skiing conditions in the world. The idea of ski resorts calls up images of the Alps and Colorado, but there are pockets on Honshu, Japan’s largest island, where the mountains give way to thrilling slopes. Conde Nast Traveler invited Paola + Murray to venture to these more remote places to bring back a taste of what they found there. What they found was a little bit different from what they expected. “[Adam Graham] had been there two weeks before and the conditions were absolutely perfect. Lots of deep snow and blue skies, and pretty much as soon as we landed it started raining. And it rained, kind of the whole time,” says Murray Hall, who makes up half of Paola + Murray with his wife Paola Ambrosi De Magistris. Even though it rained the whole time they were exploring the area, they were still able to use their skills to show off what it was the writer saw and deliver a story that’s as full of snow as we could hope. The story in Conde Nast Traveler is about more than the slopes and the wintery conditions – it’s also about everything that surrounds the literal skiing experience. And when Paola + Murray couldn’t capture three feet of perfect powder, they were still able to deliver the full picture. That’s because they looked beyond the expected. “It comes down to those areas around ski resorts; they kind of just have that vibe,” explains Murray. Whether it’s a steaming bath at a hot spring onsen, or a hearty meal of soba, the experience extends far beyond the trails and deeper than the rain sodden snow outside. “In all our photography, our main objective is to keep things as real as possible and keep it really authentic and real,” says Murray. “Japan is one of those places that is super authentic, so it’s not very difficult to make it look real.” -
11.27.18 Kyle Bean Expands for Kiehl’s
When an artist approaches a creative process with authenticity, every project presents an opportunity to grow and learn. For Kyle Bean, much of what he creates is rather broad. He’s generally brought on to solve large creative problems in a visual process, but every now and then he has a collaboration that has more defined boundaries. His latest, with Kiehl’s was one of those jobs and it opened up new doors, even within its constraints. “What I found quite appealing about this job was that what I was tasked with almost creating something between an architectural model and an illustrative representation of a Kiehl’s store,” explains Kyle. “Normally, I don’t normally have that much of a brief when I’m given a job to make one of my artworks, so it was a bit more specific in that they wanted there to be lots of references to what you find inside a typical Kiehl’s store like their flagship store in New York.” Those details included the pear tree that sits outside the Kiehl’s store on Manhattan’s East Village location on 3rd Avenue, a Mr Bones skeleton, a motorbike, the little compartmentalized drawers where the product sits. But above all else, literally, the entire store was set in the shape of Chinese retailer TMall’s logo. The project was created to celebrate Singles Day, a holiday in China that celebrates folks who are romantically unattached. Every one of these confinements was an opportunity. The biggest change for Kyle was all the people. The store he created with photographer Mitch Payne is chock full of customers, and so Kyle had to create them. “My work doesn’t really contain people usually, so that was definitely a new challenge for me,” explains Kyle. “What we arrived at was this combination of papercraft and simple painted shapes so they look like stylized characters.” “Every job I learn something new, even if it’s something simple. On this job I was using a bit of a mix of materials in a way that I wouldn’t always use or combine in some of my other work,” Kyle says. “With the motorbike I used a weird combination of oven drying and some painted wooden dowels. What I found quite liberating with this job is I could kind of just find materials that I felt could work for different parts of the model and not feel constrained.” Every limitation offers an opportunity for expansion, and with this project for Kiehl’s, Kyle was able to use every square inch to broaden his process. -
11.8.18 Dan Craig Breaks Through for UGG
In the latest collaboration between Illustrator Dan Craig and UGG, time is an illusion. In a subversion of the myths we’ve told ourselves, Dan has created a series of classically styled paintings that reflect stories from times of old. Each one is massive and a take on images you already know: Simon Vouet’s Venus, François Boucher’s Hercules & Omphale and Alexandre Cabanel’s Apollo. Of course, they’re all a little different, but that’s the point. They’re all remixes on a classic. This latest campaign celebrates the collaboration between UGG and Y/Project, a series of new styles that remix the classic UGG look, so it stands to reason that the new styles would be breaking through the past and into the present. Each of Dan’s illustrations are painted life-size and feature cutouts so that live models pop in and out of them, showing of their very human faces and the UGG styles featured in each image. Whether they’re a heeled version of a boot, or a men’s style that’s three-tiered or a take on a flip-flop, these are styles we’ve never seen before with DNA that runs back to the very beginning of the brand and their most iconic styles. It’s a blend of new and old that makes this campaign created with Plus Agency burst through to the future, with each image offering a tension that demands the audience gives a second look. -
11.7.18 Marc Hom Reveals the Breadth of Willem Dafoe for Esquire
Willem Dafoe has made a reputation for himself as being one of the most engaging and agile actors of his generation. In the latest cover story for Esquire featuring Dafoe and photographed by Marc Hom, the magazine makes clear the breadth of roles he’s taken on. Everything from a death god to players on both sides of the Holocaust, to the Green Goblin and Vulko. Now: he’s playing Vincent Van Gogh. What makes this range so profound is that Dafoe has an unmistakable look, he’s able to reshape his energies and body language to inhabit these roles. For this cover story, it was up to Marc to ensure that we see the range even when he’s dressed up in the latest fashions with nothing between him and audience but Marc’s discerning eye and flair for composition. In only eight images we see a multifaceted man, the same man that’s revealed through the companion interview. And he’s never out of place in the fashions he wears: Prada, Louis Vuitton, Dries Van Noten, Ferragamo, Burberry, Ralph Lauren, Hermès. It’s all the names that make the most fashion savvy weak in the knees, but on Dafoe they’re perfectly at home, and pieces that he’s able to use as tools in his arsenal. See one photo where he’s balancing on a table, slicing an apple, a vision of an effortless leading man. In the next image, he’s a total creep in an oversized jacket. Then a blissed-out meditator in a full wool suit. Marc’s ability to capture each moment from the actor proves not only Dafoe’s versatility but Marc’s instinct to reveal to us all he sees and invite us into every moment.
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