The festive season is fast approaching, and here at Artisans & Adventurers we just can't wait! Recently, our huge Christmas photoshoot took place and we are so excited to share all the beautiful images with you. To celebrate the occasion, we sat down with our amazing talented team member, Beatrice, who is our fabulous marketing guru and the creative mind behind our Christmas shoot.
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I'm a sucker for the theatre of Christmas - I love the decoration, the getting together and above all giving people gifts. I also love the idea of choice - especially when it comes to sustainable products! I’m not sure I’m super-traditional but those would probably be the big influences. The other influence is that I’ve often been travelling at Christmas to see family with many of us far flung at various times in our lives. That just feels like a happy element that sits with the brands’ adventuring core theme.
It was Artisans & Adventurers amazing range - the pattern, the colour and the choice! I wanted to explore the choices that our customers have. I remember walking into the Margate store for the first time and just thinking “Wow! Look at all those baskets!!” After the initial eye candy attack it was the question of “Yes but which one to choose??” And that’s the same with so many of the Artisan & Adventurers collections - be it the spoons, the rugs; the fans; the rings or bangles - as soon as you start actually having to make a choice it gets really difficult to choose just one! You end up really dissecting which one really speaks to you and why! So the shot of Kimberley sat amongst all the different Indigo cushions like a queen really plays with that dilemma of choice.
I really enjoyed the shot of our wonderful models Kimberly, Tash and Osh buried under a tower of baskets! Apart from the fact that they were all really good sports, were happy to be buried by baskets and the humour of that - their glamourous, sparkly legs underneath the tower of baskets! I just loved the different scale of the products, the colours and differences. When you get up close to them (and especially when you hear Bee talking about the way the artisans we work with choose the different grasses and dyes) you really appreciate the care that goes into them all! I was also thrilled when the models ‘on three’, stood up sending the baskets tumbling spectacularly once we’d got the shot!
The planning took about a week or so I think. Once Amy, Bee and I had decided on the final plan for the shots it was just a matter of working out what we needed and what might need to be made or sourced - which took a couple of weeks. The bit that took the longest was covering the boxes - of all different sizes - and working out how much wrapping paper I’d need!
Once the paper arrived I went into a sort of zen wrapping state, that was followed by the zen paper chain making!! I did enjoy doing the paper-chain but also really loved covering a battered vintage suitcase in the monkey puzzle print we have for one of the shots - very satisfying!
The challenges were minimal. As long as you can communicate what each picture needs to end up looking like to the team then the rest is easy. We had beautiful products, amazing models and a beautiful house to shoot the majority of the shots (Bee’s flexibility and patience was Herculean given how much she loves her fabulous pad!). All the props and set ups were created in advance so that was all cool. We also worked with lovely collaborators Mahal Kita whose flowers were just knock out! The challenge comes in the finer details in the few days beforehand and then on the day - namely the weather (always a factor here in the UK!) I’ve previously done more studio work which cuts that particular risk factor out but actually we were really lucky weather-wise and the sun even showed up a few times! We decided to use lovely Dane Park for the exterior shots and the trees still had enough leaves on to make it feel atmospheric. The rest is just about timing and making sure the team, the right product; the models; what they’re wearing and if the sets are where they need to be for each shot so that Ben - the fabulous photographer - can do his magic. We had great team on the day - not too many people and all very agile - so we got a LOT of shots done! So that was really satisfying.
There were a couple of gems - working on the Hiro + Wolf shoot at the same time as Artisans & Adventurers means that obviously dogs are a big part of the experience. We had set up the shot of Osh in a great orange frock and she was going to be jumping on the bed covered in the lovely monkey puzzle bedding with the new mirrors on the wall behind her. Now Ben is very fond of Millie (we all know she’s his fave - sorry Hiro + Wolf) and Millie had been chilling on the bed while other shots had been going on in the rest of the house. We came in to get set up and I figured Millie would just jump off the bed when Osh got on. But as is her want - she just looked at Osh with an expression that said “…what exactly are you doing on my bed…?” I attempted to ask Millie to join the rest of the mortals on the floor (and not on the bed) so Ben could capture the moment of Osh jumping high on Bee’s bed! No reaction to my polite request. So luckily for us Bee’s bed is nice and big and Osh could happily jump away! This literally went on for at least 5 minutes all the while Millie totally undisturbed by the jumping (oh and the throwing of confetti!) This from a sensitive greyhound!! Loved it! She did eventually get off when she realised maybe she wasn’t the centre of attention (for a change!).
A huge thank you to Beatrice (top left) and the rest of the super talented team that bought our festive photoshoot to life! We hope this helped to get you into the Christmas mood. Keep an eye out on our social media and website for these beautiful photos and new Christmas products!
Photography by Ben Broomfield