New Commercial Portrait Work for Cray

Cray, Inc., the maker of some of the world's most powerful supercomputers, commissioned me to craft a series of portraits as part of their newly-launched "Amazing" marketing campaign.

The company, founded in 1972 by Seymour Cray, was a pioneer in the supercomputer industry and is headquartered in Seattle. My client wanted a fresh set of images to really emphasize the impact their computers have on society. I was tasked with telling this story through portraits of select individuals who were doing important work using Cray equipment.

My images, along with some made by overseas contributors, were to be unveiled as large-format banners at the Cray booth at SC16, a major gathering of the world's supercomputing industry in Salt Lake City, Utah from Nov. 14-17, 2016.

Over a period of about a month-and-a-half, I shot on location in Connecticut, Texas and Illinois, where I met fascinating people doing incredible work. From a doctor who is discovering new drugs through precision therapies, to a duo who were restoring fairness to electoral districts, and a geophysicist working to more accurately locate oil and gas resources.

This was an absolute pleasure to work on as the subject matter really resonated with me as a portrait photographer, and it was all topped off with seeing the final product for myself at the convention in Salt Lake City. I thought the banners turned out wonderful. The whole experience of helping coordinate the logistics of travel and finding locations, and executing the visual concept, made me grow and become a stronger photographer.

I extend my deepest gratitude to Paul Rosien, at Cray for trusting me with this work, and to my assistants in each of the locations who played a big part in making the shoots a success.

All photos copyright John Lok/photographer, and may not be reproduced without permission. Behind the scenes photos by Jesse Patterson, shot on location at the Omni Hotel in Dallas, Texas.

John Lok is a commercial and corporate photographer based in Seattle, who specializes in people and food. His work can viewed at: www.johnlokphoto.com.