Photo Series Wins Prestigious Creativity Award

Saratoga QuadPhoto has been honored this year with a prestigious Creativity 31 award - an international award that recognizes the best in advertising and design work.

QuadPhoto submitted a six-piece photo series in the category "Campaign - Creative Achievement in Photography." The series, called "Homage to Magritte," features a smartly dressed man with a variety of accessories: top hat, umbrella, attache case, Italian shoes, pocket watch. But these photos are far from typical studio shots; they show the model set against a cloudy backdrop, appearing to be suspended in mid-air. In some shots, the accessories seem to float. In one shot, flames shoot from the inside of a shoe the model is holding. In another shot, the model's head is missing, though the top hat sits perfectly in place.

A little Imaging trickery and some very creative photography make the series work. "This award reflects the fact that we don't just have the technical ability to take photographs, but we have the creativity as well," said Mark Kozlowski, who, along with Dan Shay, choreographed and shot the series of photos.

That message will be reaching art directors, designers and stylists, as the series will be featured in a 384-page, hardcover book called Creativity Annual that honors just 20 percent of the entries in the contest. That book will be distributed around the world in summer 2002.

"Many of our clients, art directors and stylists get some of their ideas by looking through the Annual book," said Cal Newby, manager of QuadPhoto.

"The QuadPhoto tag line will be in the book, and we hope that it catches the eyes of prospective clients," Mark said.

The Creativity award is given in each of 41 different categories and attracts submissions from around the world. This year, thousands of entries poured in from 43 states and 30 countries.

Additional Exposure
Three of the six images in QuadPhoto's award-winning series also will be featured in a book by author Bill Jensen. Mr. Jensen's book - work 2.0 - will be published next month and will use the QuadPhoto images to open several chapters.

Two of those pieces - "Flaming Shoe" and "Flying Ties" - also will appear on Mr. Jensen's Web site, www.simplerwork.com, to coincide with the release of the book.

"This award reflects the fact that we don't just have the technical ability to take photographs, but we have the creativity as well."
Mark Kozlowski
Saratoga QuadPhoto