MACHAS

ANGLO AMERICAN: BUILDING GREAT TOMORROWS

The brief for the new global campaign of mining giant Anglo American was simple:  Ogilvy London was looking for a photographer with a very specific portrait style, who could shoot videos, based in Sao Paulo and that could speak English, Portuguese and Spanish - no problemo!

We had the right person for the job in the Machas Artist Network and we immediately got on with the production and involved our local Brazilian producer to make sure that everything proceeded as smooth as possible. Last June we flew to Brazil and Chile to shoot the protagonists of the campaign: Anglo American miners and workers, as well as members of the society such as teachers and entrepreneurs, whose activity is supported by the mining company.

These are the men and women that with the support of Anglo American embody the progress of the two striving countries - and that’s exactly what the campaign is focusing on.

The previous campaigns featured dramatic black and white portraits of the protagonists, however this year’s creative direction aimed at having a more natural and playful approach to channel the enthusiasm and optimism of the countries featured.  As the protagonists were all normal people and, like most of us, not used to being in front of the camera, it was of upmost importance for the photographer to be able to create a connection with the subjects; who understands the importance of allowing people to be comfortable to show their genuine personality.

The northern Brazil city of Belo Horizonte, located right at the heart of the mining state of Minas Gerais, was the first stop of the tour, where the Creative Director of the campaign Alun Howell and Valentina from Machas joined the rest of the crew: namely photographer Domenico Pugliese, his assistant, our legendary local producer Anderson Lopes and, last but not least, the lovely Thais and Nathasha from Ogilvy Rio.

The eight protagonists came from all over the northern region of Brazil and a ton of pao de queijo, some paracetamol and two days of intense shooting later the crew boarded a plane heading to Santiago, Chile, where two more full days of shooting with the remaining eight protagonists awaited.

Although there wasn’t much time to enjoy the beautiful Santiago, everything went very smoothly and the shooting was wrapped up the second day exactly according to schedule.

The images and video created are part of Anglo American global campaign.