Proud to Present: brand photography for Paul Sanders of Discover Still
Paul Sanders is one of my favourite people. Our paths first crossed just after he’d left his job as Picture Editor at The Times to embark upon a career in landscape photography, and we’ve since become the best of friends. We have worked with Paul as his freelance career evolved from hosting landscape photography workshops around the world to launching Still, a name which has become synonymous with the concept of mindfulness in photography.
As Still has evolved, Paul hosts online workshops, residential retreats and one day workshops. The website we created for Still following Paul’s rebrand seven years ago attracts the highest volume of traffic of any of our websites, but as the business has honed its focus, it needed an upgrade.
It was high time to put a bit more of Paul into the brand, and to do that I wanted to create a collection of images which reflect Paul’s character and tuition style. It’s a tricky thing, creating imagery for a photographer – even more so when the images we create appear alongside Paul’s own very distinctive work. We decided to lean into this, and embrace the contrast of warm, characterful imagery of Paul against Paul’s signature minimalist, black and white style.
When we consider brand photography, we take great care to think about the role of the images; the story they need to tell, the way we want to make our audience feel, and where they’ll appear. This means diligently planning the way in which the images will be used and mapping out a story. As I worked on developing the copy and brand language for Paul’s new website, a clear narrative formed in my mind, and it wasn’t long before I knew exactly what we needed to capture, and the job that the images needed to do.
It's easy to think that photoshoots are just about bringing in a photographer and leaving them to it – but without a proper brief and sense of purpose, that rarely yields the results you want. We always consider the location, the mood, the styling, the outfits (plural!), whether we need other people involved, and any props we might need, too. It means that everyone arrives fully prepared and able to get the most value out of the day. My partner for this project was Michael at Saltwick, who enters every assignment with enthusiasm and a shared commitment to excellence.
We headed to Falconhurst Estate – a beautiful venue where Paul regularly runs one day workshops – and made full use of the spaces available. The Barn – an old Victorian farm building – provided the perfect backdrop for portraits. With exposed brick, aged timber and a cosy log burner, the rustic textures contrasted beautifully with Paul’s work, and gave heaps of depth for his portrait shots. We then headed to the Gardens (admittedly not at their best in February!), where we focussed on natural textures, movement and Paul’s connection with his environment.
The result is a suite of imagery and short videos which perfectly capture the essence of the Still brand – warm, artful, evocative and calm. The black and white video provides precisely the right level of serenity against the depth of the portraits, creating a bridge between Paul’s signature strikingly minimalist photography and the portraiture we created. Just lovely.
Experience the new site at discoverstill.com
