Justin Timberlake for Levi’s.
It isn’t easy to capture one of the biggest celebrities on earth in their natural element. Lucky for us, New York Street photographer Daniel Arnold specializes in just that. And holy shit, we got him for this! Side note: He’s kind of a hero of mine! And I don’t know who said to never meet your heroes. Because I did, and it was bad ass.
What it is.
A fully integrated global campaign launching Justin’s third collaboration with Levi’s. (We did the other two seasons as well but frankly, the third time was absolutely a charm and I like it a little bit better than the others.) I don’t know why i’m explaining myself to you but, here we are.
The idea.
My partner and I were brainstorming on the roof and we were like… “Let’s not try to make Justin into something he isn’t. He’s cool, his life is cool, let’s just capture that in the most natural way possible.” So, that’s exactly what we did.
Where it went.
It ran on social, came to life in-store, on levi.com and had a moment on the biggest screen in Times Square. And the best part? Indulging my love of film shooting BTS of a legend at work.
But wait. There’s more!
Yeah. I like the 3rd season best. BUT. It took us two other seasons to get there! And the work is still awesome. And it’s still starring Justin Timberlake. So. Here’s some highlights.
The Team
GCD E.B. Davis III
CD Bryan Ortiz-Dempler
CD Jan Barcikowski
SAD Hunter Patrick
Last words.
Chemistry is everything. Having a photographer that Justin could just chill with brought a different life to the imagery.
Less is more. Fewer lights, smaller sets, smaller crew, fewer monitors and all film. The lightness of the shoot itself comes through in the work.
As much as we want to inject some conceptual logic into what we make, sometimes “famous dude in jeans” is the concept. And that’s quite alright.