In the late 90's, I was hired by the NYC ad agency Ammirati-Puris to create a national ad campaign for the Four Seasons Hotel chain.  The inspiration for the campaign was a  portrait series shot in the early 50's by the great photographer Irving Penn.  As a contract shooter for Vogue he had studios in New York, London and Paris...and in all of those locations sought out simple workmen of all descriptions (i.e; doormen, chimney sweeps, plumbers, etc.), brought them to the studio and then photographed them just as they appeared in real life.  The series became known as The Small Trades. 

Like The Small Trades, this series would be shot in black & white, framing each individual against a simple painted background.  The subjects would all be authentic Four Seasons employee's, photographed in their actual uniforms.

To cast the series, an initial collection of employees was selected by the corporate marketing team. The entire group was then flown to Chicago where the art director and I met with each and every one of them.  We chatted for a few minutes, took notes and then photographed them quickly on a simple set that had been erected in the room. The process took a couple of days and when it was all said and done, we compared notes and came up with a list of finalists.

A shoot date was set for one month later. It took place in my Dallas studio and all of the subjects were flown out.  Cindi Gregg did the hair & make-up and Sarah Sanford was the stylist. The goal of the campaign was to reveal just how wonderful the Four Seasons staff is...and to to bring that point home by using actual employees. The descriptive words I was given by the advertising staff were: elegant, exclusive, proud, competent and service oriented.  The challenge of course was to get all of these "real people" who were not models to evoke those qualities in their portraits.  We worked hard on the task for three straight days and as you can see here... the proof is in the pudding.

The campaign was originally to be just national in scope. The client was so happy with the results however that they bought international rights and ran the ads in major cities across the world.  I moved to New Mexico immediately after wrapping this job and the proceeds paid for the entire first year of that adventure  Fun memories for sure!