The Favorite
May 25, 2008
Melody
Drive through any medium-sized American city and you’ll see one — a 14x40 billboard with a beautifully lit portrait of a doe-eyed child, the concerned doctor, some wizened elder. Maybe some heartbreaking kid in a wheelchair…. Advertising either health-care, insurance, education, or personal injury attorneys. They are innocuous and interchangeable creative advertising solutions — ideal for “marketing by consensus” (provided the subjects are a proper politically-correct mix of genders and races.)
Ad agencies find these types of photos a safe bet and easy sell to institutional clients who can’t make up their mind. I should know, I’ve worked that side of the business too.
Any decent commercial photographer — and many competent amateurs — can pull this kind of shot off. There are probably a hundred togs in any given market who could do as equally well as one another. No… this photo required nothing special technique-wise. It’s all Melody here.
(OK, I’ll admit that I don’t entirely suck as a portrait photographer. In fact, you should hire me to shoot your next billboard (or magazine, ad campaign, annual report, etc.) because I’ll draw something special out of each subject and give the tired old concept a healthy kick in the ass.)
Reader Comments (add yours)
1. CE Nelson — Jun 3 2008 10:23 AM
Gwen Stefani, eat your heart out.
C.