Sherman Theatre - Love Cardiff
Photo Alex Mills
Date / location Wales / 2023-24
Additional info Real portraits of community group members shot on location in Sherman Theatre. Created a distinct narrative running through the pictures by using a pink light to show Sherman’s involvement and help. The end items were used in promotion of a show plus for press and advertising.
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Cardiff is a city rich with stories from diverse communities that have come to call it home. As Sherman Theatre celebrated its 50th birthday, they were highlighting these narratives through their community production of "Love, Cardiff: 50 Years of Your Stories." Both professional performers and community members came together to tell tales of the city's history, its people, and the incredible journey of Sherman Theatre.
Their show was a performance filled with celebration, empathy, and connection, as they collaborate with organisations including: Cathays Day Provision (ALN), the Welsh Ballroom Community (LGBTQIA+), Waulah Cymru, the Kurdish All Wales Association, the Jewish History Association of South Wales, and members of the Deaf Community.
The challenge
The client wanted to create a suite of stylised portraits for promotion of the event. The photos would need to feature part of Sherman Theatre (essentially, using the space as the backdrop) whilst each image was visually different. The images would be used for promotion on social media, website and within video. To add some complexity, there was tight restrictions on timings with the entire shoot not lasting longer than 60 minutes! This is quite a tight schedule for 5 sets of people portraits, in different locations - and especially if people weren’t used to being on camera.
Fortunately, I had a good knowledge of their foyer. It’s a really nice, visually impactful space with large tinted windows at the entrance, amazing colourful columns and a bright bar with multiple lights . I knew we could comfortably move around and within a few angles we could get a visually different shot to the last.
I photoshopped some concept images to explain my idea of the Sherman ‘Pink’ being used as an accent light to each of the individuals which was provided to the client. This allowed us to create a suite of similar yet different images, and that used their brand colour to accent the person. The thought behind the coloured light (gel) was that in a see of people, it’s this person’s story that we’re listening to.
In regards how we wanted the images to come across, we wanted them ‘real’ with a mix of ‘to camera’ and off-camera. This was achieved with the help of Joe Murphy, the Sherman’s Artistic Director who engaged each of the people in conversation to get natural poses.
Pre-shoot, I arrived within plenty of time to allow some tester shots with members of the creative team, including Joe Murphy (Artistic Director of the Sherman), Francesca Pickard (Director) and Alice Smith (Marketing Manager).
The shoot went really well and the client was really happy with the results.
Find out more about Sherman Theatre and Love, Cardiff
