I recently completed an exciting and ambitious assignment for a long-time client. The goal was to create a photographic library that portrays their people working together in a dynamic way in different environments and cultures. With more than 500 offices worldwide to choose from, the client narrowed our locations to a single city in each of eleven countries on six continents.
LONDON: THE offices have a large terrace… —just the thing to provide a sense of place.
MILAN: As one might expect, the Milan offices are beautifully designed.
ALWAYS: Close-ups infuse a meeting with warmth and personality.
DUBAI: Most of the client’s employees here wear standard Western business attire, but this isn’t mandated. Showing traditional garb in the workplace provides a sense of place and diversity.
JOHANNESBURG: These employees are enjoying doing business outdoors on a beautiful day — and what a pleasure for me.
TOKYO: I’ve worked in Tokyo many times over the years for various clients. The office windows are always remarkably clean—a plus for photography. And the people I’m photographing always seem not just professional, but dedicated.
NATURALLY: I like to take advantage of natural light to evoke an open, bright, modern look.
SINGAPORE: Lobby areas frequently provide the most attractive settings, with lots of leeway for compositional options.
SYDNEY: Shooting in Australia always leave me with such positive impressions. The executives in this shot really seem to know how to enjoy their work. They all have great senses of humor—perhaps all that sunshine helps. Directing scenes like this one call for me to be a bit of an acting coach. It’s gratifying to see my subjects rise to the occasion!
SYDNEY: A meeting on the go, with Sydney’s ferry terminal in the background, is particularly energetic. I like to get my subjects to forget that they’re being photographed in a public place.
SÃO PAOLO: My own heritage, going way back, is Portuguese, but I don’t even speak menu Portuguese. Almost all of the employees I met, on all six continents, spoke fluent English—which was convenient but humbling. Over the years shooting around the world, I’ve developed a repertoire of hand gestures and body language that works surprisingly well.
Close-up from a São Paolo meeting
MEXICO CITY: We photographed many indoor and outdoor situations, all with their executives at work. Most of my subjects find our shoots to be a lot of fun and a chance to help show what it means to be part a great company. I try to show the intensity of a dynamic meeting and that often requires much directing and encouragement for my non-professional models.
DALLAS: The building manager generously permitted us to to do this shot in the lobby of my client’s Dallas offices. Like Blanche DuBois, “I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers.”
TORONTO: This was the last stop on our 6 week itinerary. Toronto had the advantage of ending our job with only a ninety minute flight back home to New York - by far the shortest leg of all.
The last situation we covered before running off to the airport for our return back to the States. This marked the end to one of my most memorable and extensive shoots after 6 weeks of traveling.