The Brief / Anthony Nolan / NHS Stem Cell Registry Annual Review
The Brief is a quarterly feature on the LPA blog which takes a behind the scenes look at a photoshoot.
THE BRIEF
Photographer: Patrick Harrison
Client: Anthony Nolan
Title: Together for Better
Art Director: Dilhan Attanayake
Shoot dates: February 2014
Usage: Annual Review, UK, 1 year
This time we centre The Brief on a project Patrick Harrison has recently completed for UK Charity Anthony Nolan, the NHS and the Department of Health. Having worked with Patrick previously, the client knew his natural reportage-style approach and knack for capturing his subjects in their own environments (see below) would make him perfect for the job.
© Patrick Harrison / East Village
© Patrick Harrison / GMC
The Brief:
The original brief from Dilhan Attanayake, the Creative Studio Manager at Anthony Nolan and Art Director for the shoot, was to produce a series of portraits for the Anthony Nolan and NHS Stem Cell Registry 2014 Annual Review. Each portrait would capture a different person associated with the cause, from the chief executive of Anthony Nolan to donors themselves. The purpose was to mark achievements made in stem cell transplantation so far, and to measure further progress that can be made. The images needed to be natural and engaging, with a contemporary feel.
The Shoot Prep:
This involved:
Photographer’s Requirements:
• Photographic expenses for x 4 half day shoots – digi-capture, equipment and lighting kit, post-production
Crew:
• Photographer’s 1st Assistant
Transport:
• Expenses – Travel & mileage to Nottingham, Leicester, RAF Brize Norton and North London
Miscellaneous:
• Couriers, mobile and production insurance
The Location:
It was decided that Patrick would shoot each subject in his or her own working environment, which saw him traveling across the country and meeting lots of interesting people affiliated with the cause. Patrick’s ability to capture people in a spontaneous and genuine manner has resulted in final imagery that is sincere and anchors the message of the Annual Review perfectly.
Patrick shot the stem cell donors in Nottingham, Leicester and RAF Brize Norton, as well as shooting representatives from Anthony Nolan and the NHS in London.
The Shoot
This was a successful and enjoyable shoot for both Patrick and the client, who both commented on how smooth the process was. Here Patrick reveals a bit about the things he needed to consider upon receiving the brief:
“This was a really nice portrait brief from Anthony Nolan. The client and the art director were present for the first shoot, which was the perfect opportunity to discuss how best to approach the other shoots as I would be doing these alone with an assistant.
We discussed that all the portraits would be used bleed on a single page A4 portrait format with no text so shooting with this in mind meant all the shots taken were usable. The tone of the portraits was the other major consideration. They needed to be focused and direct, capturing and communicating the strength and openness of all involved. The pictures would be used to encourage others to consider being a donor in the future so this wasn't a light hearted brief.
I love photographing real life stories and meeting new and inspiring people is always rewarding. My aim is always to make those people feel as special as possible, and to be sensitive to their wishes. This ultimately means making quick decisions about possible locations / backgrounds and working as a team with the assistant to put everyone at ease. The experience should appear to be effortless and should hopefully be rewarding and enjoyable for all and not like a bad trip to the dentist, which is probably what most people are expecting!
The final images were printed beautifully and seeing them for the first time was really exciting, I don't think I'll ever lose that feeling!”
Case Study 1:
Andrew Parry, Survival equipment fitter at RAF Brize Norton.
© Patrick Harrison / Anthony Nolan/NHS/Department of Health
Case Study 2:
Zach Hughes, Fit Panel Member from Leicester.
© Patrick Harrison / Anthony Nolan/NHS/Department of Health
Case Study 3:
Ross Kirk, Physics teacher from Mansfield.
© Patrick Harrison / Anthony Nolan/NHS/Department of Health
Here’s what Dilhan had to say about working with Patrick:
“The right Imagery on this project was key to its success as we wanted to show how individuals from everyday backgrounds could, by a selfless act, save the life of a person with blood cancer, by donating their stem cells and registering as a donor on NHS Blood or the Anthony Nolan register. The individuals in the images taken by Patrick Harrison came from all walks of life and in this respect we wanted the images to reflect them and their surroundings in an honest, realistic way that Patrick’s captures effortlessly.
The team at LPA were fantastic from our initial conversation about the idea to the delivery of the final images, they made everything run so seamlessly that all we had to do was concentrate on making sure that we had a worthy design to marry Patrick’s beautiful images.”
The Annual Review © Anthony Nolan/NHS/Department of Heath
© Patrick Harrison / Anthony Nolan/NHS/Department of Health
Photoshoot Glossary
Art Director: Responsible for the overseeing the visual direction of the shoot.
Annual Review: A comprehensive report on an organisation’s activities throughout the preceding year, intended to give people information of key work, achievements and financial performance.
Digi-capture: The process of taking the photos on a photoshoot, capturing the images with a digital camera.
Post-production: Varies from light colour correcting to more complex retouching e.g colour treatments, multipart comping.
1st Assistant: The photographer’s right hand man on a shoot, who’s responsibility is to do all the tasks required so the photographer is free to concentrate on taking the pictures. They would usually be quite involved in the lighting and digital downloading.