Commercial Narrative Photography
What began as a seven day architectural assignment for the design firm Imagination Group ended up as a lifestyle shoot with real people; all of which was part of their branding campaign for the be.Group who runs several retirement communities throughout Southern California.
We were able to turn on a dime for them since my background as a photojournalist gave me the flexibility to do so. The new direction dovetailed with a personal project I was doing on a senior group practicing Tai-Chi.
The be.Group wanted emotive images of real people that would resonate genuiness and lifestyle options at their communities. But, since we were shooting real people who were not compensated, I had limited control over my subjects and summer temperatures affected how long I could keep my subjects on set. So, even though we photographed during actual events I often had to direct or shape events to give the images meaning. Hence I had to respond to my subjects as a photojournalist and shape the set as advertising photographer would; then polish the work in post production.
At our studio we wear multiple hats to make our projects work for our clients. Commercial narrative photography is just one of our specialties.