Brisbane Photoshoot for Navitas

I have been photographing campuses and students for Navitas for the last few years. Aside from making pictures right across Australia I have also shot in Singapore, the UK and Canada.

The photography is challenging: there are tight schedules and complicated logistics not to mention a mishmash of lighting conditions. The biggest challenge, though, is communicating my ideas and instructions to a plethora of languages and cultures. It is also what creates the best reward.

Many of the students are in the early stages of learning English so my 'Australianized' version of it may not help matters. Somehow, though, a concoction of my gestures and the interplay of many languages results in pictures of real life multicultural scenarios. It's inspiring to see so many young people, so far from their families and cultures, interact so easily and enthusiastically with each other. 

Early this month (June, 2011) I was engaged by Louise Bowden (Group Brand Manager for Navitas) to photograph students at the Brisbane campus. The shoot was scheduled over 3 days and included outdoor and class room / facility locations as well as in a 'studio' we created in one of the classrooms.

The movie is a sampling of the images we made during those three days. On this occasion countries of origin included Venezuela, Poland, India, France, Vietnam, China and Australia.

Of course, a shoot like this needs organisation, design, hair and makeup as well as enthusiastic students. 

Special thanks go to:

The Navitas Creative Team:

Louise Bowden
Jodie Lindsay
Jill Smyth

Hair & Makeup:

Kate Kennedy

The Students:

Lucas, Matthew, Vanilla, Sen, Vinay, Ewa, David, Lucia and Long

About Navitas

Navitas is an Australian company established in 1994 and today it employs more than 4,000 people. Each year Navitas enrols over 55,000 students from 87 different countries. They have more than 100 campuses in 28 countries offering a wide choice of multicultural study destinations – from the beaches and rainforests of Australia, to the mountains and lakes of Vancouver, to the cultural heritage of the UK.

Music:

This ain't LAX by Crystal Cove

For the gearheads:
Canon Cameras (1Ds 3, 5D Mark2)
Canon Lenses (24-70mm f2.8L, 70-200mm f2.8L, 100mm f2.8 Macro
Elinchrom Quadra Flash
Canon 580 EX11 Flash
Pocket Wizard & Elinchrom Remotes
Lightroom 3 Software
15" MacBookPro