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FOCUS: Amit and Naroop

13 August 2020

Amit and Naroop 01d copy

© Amit and Naroop

Members Amit and Naroop share a dream come true; to be published in a newspaper or magazine.  Their recent campaign shot for Adidas not only appeared in the press but also on billboards, tube stations and buses to name a few.  Read on to find out how the shoot came about and the challenges faced.  Join them in the first of a series of conversational webinars on Thursday 20 August, further information below.

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© Amit and Naroop

 

How did this shoot come about?

The shoot came about when we were contacted by a producer called Anna Cartwright from Craft London, part of the McCaan Worldgroup, in late November 2019. She emailed us about an exciting job for a well known sportswear brand. 

As with most commercial jobs, initially the details were vague. All we were told was that it was going to be a ‘cool’ shoot and shot over multiple days. 

We thanked Anna for getting in touch and put her in touch with the guys At Trayler.

It turned out that Skye and Lily had been at McCaan a few weeks earlier showing them our book, and call it fate, good timing or destiny, they were looking for photographers for a potential job and our style was exactly what they wanted. 

After further conversation, we were told the job was for Adidas. We were thrilled. December can be a quiet month with Christmas and people winding down, but this job had to be started immediately, so the timing was perfect. 

 

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© Amit and Naroop

 

When and where did it happen? Who was involved?

The majority of the production At Trayler was handled by Kay Edwards, who did an amazing job juggle all the moving pieces. It was a huge job on a tight deadline and she handled it like a pro. 

From the McCaan team, we worked with producers Tom Ayling and Alex Dougan, creatives Lisa Carrana and Olly Wood and account director Tom Oliver.

With such a quick turnaround, the first time we met Tom Ayling and Olly Wood in person was at breakfast in the hotel in Munich, the morning of the shoot! We knew immediately they were our kind of guys. Down to earth, easy to talk to and fun. 

The whole team were fantastic. We got on very well. Spending so much time together, we built a solid bond and a great working relationship. 

One thing that helped was the trust and respect the McCaan showed us. We were rarely questioned and they knew whatever decisions we made were done to ensure we delivered the best results possible. This is so important when working with a big team. Ego has to be removed and the end goal has to take priority. 

Originally the shoot was planned for one day in Munich, Germany and one day in London. Alongside us, we called in two of our assistants, Max Barlow and Pablo Byrne. 

In Germany were shot Serge Gnabry, the winger for football team Bayern Munich. Back in London we shot rapper Kano, presenter Maya Jama, plus size model Jada Sezer and French rapper Chilla.  

From here the shoot grew. We travelled to Madrid to shoot Atlético Madrid footballer Álvaro Morata. In London two further dates were added on which we shot singer Ella Mai, LGBT sports advocate Jehmeil Lemonius, British Paralympic athlete Lauren Steadman and Manchester United footballer Katie Zelem. 

From initially being planned as a two day shoot, it ultimately grew into a five day shoot!

 

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© Amit and Naroop

 

What was the concept behind it? Any inspirations you'd like to mention?

The tag line to the shoot was ‘Change Is A Team Sport’. On the brief the ethos was described as follows:

CHANGE IS A TEAM SPORT.

BUT WE KNOW THAT NO ONE TEAM IS THE SAME. EVERYONE HAS A UNIQUE ROLE TO PLAY.

WE DON’T DO IT FOR OURSELVES.

WE DO IT FOR EACH OTHER.

FOR THE CULTURE.

BRING YOUR TEAM AND BRING YOUR DREAMS. LET’S CREATE THE FUTURE OF SUPERSTAR.  

I guess Adidas wanted to reinvent the identity of the iconic ‘Superstar’ trainer and with it their well known three strip tracksuit. By including plus size models, rappers, LGBT advocates and paralympians, they were showing the new face of the Superstar.  

As an American version of the shoot had just been completed, in essence we had to follow their lead in terms of lighting and look. Talent from the American shoot would be included in the UK and European campaign as well, all integrated and comped together for the big group shot. 

The idea was to shoot the talent on the Adidas ‘blue’ that graces the Adidas logo and shoe boxes. With a slight gradient, the background allowed the talent to take centre stage. 

Our brief was to make the talent the heroes. Low angles. Strong poses. No smiles. They were making a statement. A team stood side by side for a worthy and important cause. 

But Adidas still wanted it to feel classic, old school in a way. Not too sharp and crisp. It needed to have a timeless quality. In order to achieve this, a soft layer of grain was added on top of the images. 

The whole vibe reminded us of record covers that you’d see of 80’s / 90’s rap groups like Run DMC.

 

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© Amit and Naroop

 

How did you achieve this vision in practical terms? Any challenges?

With a shoot like this where the lighting has to stay constant across multiple days and locations, it is always a challenge. Luckily we are used to this as we have done it multiple time on previous shoots. 

Ideally for a shoot like this, we would set up in a large studio with plenty of space and white walls. But our first shoot location in Munich was a small gym with barely enough room to roll out the blue coloured backdrop. What made this even more challenging was the fact that this first shoot would set the look and tone that we would have to duplicate across all the remaining shoot days, so the pressure was on. 

We made as much room as possible in the gym and after around three hours we were happy with the lighting. We then instructed our assistants to draw a diagram of the lighting setup. In total nine Profoto lights were used with a variety of modifiers including soft boxes, umbrellas and reflectors. 

Our guys noted the distance of each light from the talents mark, the individual light setting and the camera height and angle, which was mainly mounted on a tripod for this shoot. 

With this diagram to hand, on each of the subsequent days, we duplicated the lighting setup in whichever location we were shooting. That’s not to say it was easy. The size and shape of the room can dramatically effect how the light falls and bounces, so adjustments always have to be made. For example in Madrid we shot in a huge green screen studio and on our last day in London we shot in a long blacked out studio. 

The other major challenge of the shoot was the retouching. On a vast majority of our shoots, we handle the retouching ourselves. How we edit an image plays such a big part in our look, that we rarely give it to someone else to do. 

However with this job, not only was shooting timeframe tight, but so was the retouching. In total forty eight images we required to be retouched, each image taking approximately four hours to complete. This had to be done in little less than three weeks. It was none stop, but we were up for the challenge.

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© Amit and Naroop


Anything else to add?

Adidas put a lot behind this campaign. The images were on billboards, buses, underground stations, newspapers and digital screens across Europe. With such a quick turnaround and then seeing them on display literally a few weeks after was very rewarding. We knew were privileged to have been commissioned to shoot the campaign. Even though it was hard work, it was a dream job that any photographer at the highest level would jump at doing. 

In a way it was very humbling. When we started, we would wonder if one of our images would ever get published in a magazine or newspaper. 17 years later, to see our work everywhere, featuring influential celebrities and sports stars, for one of the worlds biggest brands was a moment we will never forget. 

 

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Join Amit and Naroop in the first of a series of talks on Thursday 20 August, more information here

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