City Parks Alliance campaign

I recently had the pleasure of creating a series of mock ads with the lovely Sol Ji Park and Megan Barrette at Rochester Institute of Technology. 

We chose to make ads for the City Parks Alliance. I was inspired by the intentionality of urban design when I visited Malmö, Sweden this summer, in particular the distinct inclusion of green spaces within a place where physical space is precious. The benefits are clear, but it can still be hard to choose a seemingly profitless plot of grass or vegetables over a new business or more convenient parking spaces. 

We knew we wanted to target a variety of demographics and psychographics to reach as many city residents as possible. We also knew we had a very distinct style we wanted to maintain of clean, contemporary space and surrealism. 5 weeks later, this campaign was finally ready to present and was met with some of the most heartwarming feedback I've received in a college-level critique thus far. 

Special thanks to our professors Clay Patrick McBride, Denis Defibaugh, Doug Manchee, and Rachel Ferraro for their feedback, as well as Justin Barrett for his fantastic retouching and compositing tips, and Michael Johansson for this copy feedback.

 

Inspiration: Impressionism

The quick almost careless hand of the Impressionist, not concerned with craft as much as truth, has always fascinated me. Forcing the viewer to imagine the perfection in the subject, without replicating it exactly, removes the barrier of criticism to allow inhuman precision in the mind of the audience. And further, stillness feels almost counter to the essence artists seek. Photographs indulge an inhuman extension of time; they can open doors to voyeurism, but can't match the time-limited inexactness of human perception.

I've recently began an attempt at approaching this impressionism. Photographers like Sarah Moon and Laura Baldwinson already delve into this stylistically and serve as a starting point for these photographs. Mixing continuous light with short duration strobe has been isolating detail and softening the scene for me, though I'm hoping to push this even further. I want to be reaching the fine line between abstract and incoherent. 

Check out some instant film behind the scenes here!

One of the final images. Still playing with scale. Check "work" for more!

One of the final images. Still playing with scale. Check "work" for more!

BTS - Impressionism

A visit from my family, a trip to Banana Republic, and some beautiful ladies. 

The first time my whole fam has visited the RIT studios!

The first time my whole fam has visited the RIT studios!

When your strobe is too bright and turns your film green??

When your strobe is too bright and turns your film green??