Saatchi & Saatchi has partnered with the Women’s Work exhibition to bring a unique campaign celebrating life through the female eye.
In light of International Woman’s Day on March 8, the Women’s Work exhibition will showcase the work of 21 female photographers from the Advertising and Illustrative Photographers’ Association (AIPA) held at Auckland’s Ellen Melville Centre.
Although women make up the majority of photography students in New Zealand at 70-80 percent, the number of women commercial photographers sits at only 20 percent. The exhibition’s focus is to steer from the dominating male perspective in advertising photography, and instead focus on a woman’s point of view.
Saatchi & Saatchi’s creative campaign is running across outdoor, social and interactive screens at the exhibition. Creative technologist Celine Giovanni has also installed a unique device that uses heat-mapping motion to detect the photographers’ moving portrait. The concept of the exhibition is to praise the women behind the work, by looking beyond the work itself.
“We wanted to create strong, empowering images that celebrate the human beings behind the work, and the women who are an important part of the industry,” says Saatchi & Saatchi creative director, Kristal Knight.
“The campaign we created for Women’s Work draws the audience’s attention to the fact that most of what they see of the world is in fact the white male view. We want to disrupt this unconsciously accepted norm and offer people the opportunity to experience the world through a different lens: the female gaze.”
Women’s Work co-organiser and photographer, Manja Wachsmuth, approached Saatchi & Saatchi after noticing the work of the agency’s head of PR, Isobel Kerr-Newell. Wachsmuth says the collaboration works perfectly for meeting the exhibition expectations and will create something lasting for the women in the industry.
“The campaign that the team at S&S has created for us, has been mind blowing. It’s been an incredible experience and a great learning opportunity for all of us. Especially being on the other side of the table, seeing how the agency presents ideas to a client and the flexibility in media outputs. How the campaign will impact in the long term is yet to be seen, but it is fair to say that we are incredibly happy with the result and the opportunities it has created,” Wachsmuth says.
Isobel Kerr-Newell will be participating in a panel discussion on 8 March, that will unite industry artists to discuss issues around the photography gender imbalance in New Zealand. The panel will include photographer Sara Orme, Geraldine Turney of Match Photographers, and Dr Kaisa Wilson of Gender Tick.
For more details on the exhibition, click here.
Campaign Credits:
Client: Women’s Work – Female Photographers of the AIPA
Exhibition producer: Briar Pacey of Pacey Productions
Exhibition organiser and initiator: Victoria Baldwin
Exhibition co-organiser: Manja Wachsmuth
Creative Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
CCO: Toby Talbot
Creative Director: Kristal Knight
Design Director: Dennis Gribin
Head of Digital and Content: Amanda Chambers
Head of PR & Social: Isobel Kerr-Newell
Senior Digital Designer: Rachel Twist
Creative Technologist: Celine Giovanni
Production Manager: Shane Kelly
Production Assistant: Jess Robins
Media: OMD, VMO, Lumo, JC Decaux and Starcom.
Production:
Director: Vicki Leopold
DOP: Fergus Cahill
Gaffer: Petrice Rhodes
2nd AC: Josh Oliver
DOP Assistant: Petrice Rhodes
Colour Grade: Matic Prunsik
Hair & Makeup: Jaz Gardner
Shot at: Kingsize Studios
Equipment provided by: Panavision
