Ralph Lauren has just shot its first campaign in New Zealand and it chose Sweetshop director, Tom Gould, to direct it. Gould has worked on a number of Ralph Lauren campaigns. Familiarity was an asset but this time the client was in the US while Gould worked in New Zealand. It’s a new way of working that Covid has made a necessity. Gould explains how he made it work and the advantages it affords. Will it live beyond the pandemic?
The campaign is for the new Polo Sport collection consisting of technical outerwear for adventure and is based around an aquatic/submariner theme.
Choosing the location was easy for Gould. “As soon as I saw the black, the yellow, and these tones of blue in the collection, that whole palette spoke to the black sand beaches on our West Coast. It would be at one with the landscape there,” he recalled. “With every campaign I have worked on with Ralph Lauren, we’ve wanted to capture a story and a reason why we are at these places. So, for the first Polo Sport campaign to be shot here, it was an important focus for us to tell an authentic story that reflected who we are in Aotearoa and our connection to the ocean and land, through the photographs and through our local talent.”
All of the Gould used talent had their own personal connection to the ocean. “Some of them were close friends of mine; some had never been in front of a camera before – but all shared that common bond from the land where they grew up. Overall, we wanted to create a campaign that felt like it was from Aotearoa but kept that Polo Sport feel and aesthetic throughout.”
How did you manage the distance between you and the client?
Tom Gould: There was obviously a lot of communication in the pre-production stage to get the location, talent and the styling confirmed. All of our meetings, castings and fittings were done together via video conference. Our shot list and approach were very detailed so the team in the US knew exactly what was going to be shot and where. The decision to shoot the campaign on film played heavily into this prep, as we were not going to have a live feed to the team in the US. Everything had to be dialed in and approved before our shoot day.
Luckily over the years, the team at Ralph Lauren and I have built a great relationship and one where there is a lot of trust between us – as we know the direction in which the brand is going and the history behind it.
Were there any significant challenges to this setup?
TG: Shooting at such a remote location on the coast is always tricky and as we weren’t sending a live feed back to the US, decisions on the day ultimately fell on me, which always adds pressure. The fact that we didn’t have to wait until shots were approved actually made things a lot easier on the day, as we were able to move through all of our various setups and locations and stay on schedule. We were dealing with cars, boats, and helicopters all in one day, so that level of trust to just go out and capture it all was crucial.
Do you think opportunities for directing and photographing remotely are here to stay?
TG: I do. I feel that when there is an opportunity for it to be done in person, that will always be the preference. But the pandemic has forced us to think of new ways to work and to maximize locations, seasons, and worldwide talent to get the job done.
