Men On Black: An Art Director’s Response

Of all the thousands of images I’ve been responsible for over the past 30 years, I’m a little embarrassed to say none have garnered anywhere near the backlash this one has.

https://www.campaignasia.com/article/men-on-black-adnas-leadership-picture-ignites-blacklash/462921

Even when backlash was called for - when a worthy cause was demanding of a powerful image so as to stir the boiling of blood, ensure public outrage and prompt action.

So with that failure in mind, imagine my surprise when I read the articles and tweets storming around in various teacups regarding a little publicity shot I designed and art-directed, was really getting up peoples’ noses. 

Naturally as an Art Director, one tries to create something people will like, so I’m very sorry to have offended some with my insensitivity. And in the spirit of atonement I offer this explanation as to how the image was conceived and brought to life.

During the COVID horror that’s been decimating our industry, I, like so many other friends and colleagues, found myself out of work and, with a family to support, jumped at the opportunity to join a small start up. No funding, no nothing - the usual story.

Obviously, one of the first things you need in your kit, is a decent shot. It’s a new chapter, a new start and should be presented as such, so being the art director of the bunch I got to work. 

I initially presented a load of ideas to my very reluctant three partners. Thankfully in hindsight they were pretty much impossible to pull off because of the lock down / Circuit Breaker here in Singapore. (I shudder to think what the backlash might’ve been if they’d approved my original 'Ageing Superheroes' idea.) 

No, if I was to drag this tentative trio into a studio it had to be simple, fast and practical. We had to get government approval and only had an hour to shoot, so I decided to do it against a basic black background in the office. I told em to grab any version of dark shirt they had on hand and their favourite pair of old jeans. We aren’t the suit & tie types and don’t believe in ‘environment-killing-fast-fashion’, so it was old clothes that were, as Lego Batman says, either black or very dark grey. 

I asked the guys to try and show a little confidence and really, that was it. Any “rock star, cool, heroic” undertones we’ve been mocked for, is purely the result of Geoff Ang’s superb direction and photographic skills. I assure you we aren’t even the slightest bit cool or heroic in real life. (If you want some wicked portraits, give him a call at GeoffStudio - he’ll make you look great.) 

The fact of the matter is, this black & white against black style, was chosen so it could be easily replicated in other offices, allowing the shot to ‘grow’ with as much gender and cultural diversity as we are lucky enough to bring on board, allowing the exact same style of image for all in the company. You’ll be pleased to know that’s proved prudent, as we have to shoot some amazing women joining soon.

As far as the many “four white guys” comments go, I can only hope we, as an industry, opt out of this culture of labelling, quick-to-judge, marginalising assumptions, in the future. Even the most cursory glance at the shot will reveal two white guys (in the traditional sense of the word) one Asian and one Eurasian, featured. The irony of course, is the acceptance of these generalisations actually advance that exact culture these same trolls are rallying against.

Whilst on that, it may come as shock to hear some people are not comfortable in front of a camera. Yes I know it’s hard to believe in this selfie infested world, some don’t like their photos taken. So my next art-direction challenge was how to get my steadfastly refusing CEO in the shot. I thrust an anxiety-busting cigarette into his hand and we managed to snap a few. It was the lesser of two evils in my opinion - I wanted him there so I let it slide. I understand some may feel it’s tone deaf, I get it, but for me it’s not nearly as tone deaf as the countless images of dead carcasses on plates I see people photographing and displaying every day. I guess each of us have our own issues.

The sad part about all of this is the eagerness to fire off criticism at people or situations that can at best, hurt people and at worst, destroy people. Especially when authored by the influential. We are simply four guys trying to do something good in a very tough time. We’ve all created businesses in the past that have promoted women within our industry, helped young graduates male and female alike, created a great number of jobs in beleaguered economies and launched many careers. I hope this venture will do the same. God knows we need job creation right now. Perhaps we should forgo the petty pot-shots and smug tweets in favour of support for each other during these difficult times. Perhaps we should come together as an industry and direct our energy to trying to help, rather than hurt each other.