Toybox

Childrenswear campaigns tend to land in one of two places. Either the child is costumed and lit into a small adult, or the whole thing is deliberately messy in the hope that mess reads as energy. Toybox wanted neither, and they wanted it shot in the studio, which removes the usual escape route of a nice location doing the work. We gave the set back to the child. One painted backdrop, one child, and whatever they brought with them. The props are theirs, and that is the entire art direction, which meant the creative strategy had to be written as a set of restraints rather than a shot list. What we could control was the light, the frame, and the decision to stop directing once the camera was up. Nothing in the picture is placed that a seven year old would not have put there themselves. It also gave the brand something reusable. The rules are simple enough to hand to another photographer in another country and get the same campaign back.