Posted by
Ryan Watts
on
21/09/2012
Our recent shoot for Aviva's Street to School programme neatly highlights the importance of a strong make-up artist. This campaign aims to draw attention to the issue of children running away from home, with Aviva figures suggesting that as many as one hundred thousand children do so each year in the United Kingdom.
Our brief for this shoot involved depicting three significant stages of an affected mother's life, from a pre-school walk in the park (at the age of around, say, twenty-five) to the school run (age thirty), and then to the sorrow of contemplating her missing daughter (age forty).
The make-up artist, Suzie, was crucial to the success of the images. It was very important that the mother looked as realistic as possible - which involved making the model look almost twice her actual age. It is in these images that the value of a good make-up artist becomes apparent. As the focal point of the images, if the mother looked at all unrealistic, she could potentially stand out for all the wrong reasons. Compare the top and bottom images. Carefree and vibrant, the top image exudes enjoyment, whereas the bottom image expresses the mother's sombre mood. Indoors, mulling over a photograph of her daughter, Suzie endeavoured to create a look which would portray sadness: dry oil in the model's hair, to simulate an unkempt, unwashed look, with paler foundation on her face to portray the lack of sleep and malnutrition which might occur. In short, Suzie threw her imagination into the job, paying particular attention to the model's eyes, using creams to highlight the blues and purples underneath them.
It was all expertly done by Suzie, conveying precisely the right tone. We're proud of this year's work, just as we were with our Street to School campaign last year.
Edit: You can view the ad online here.