LUKE EVANS
THE HARMONIST
Luke Evans’ ongoing photographic partnership with fragrance brand, ‘The Harmonist’, has been a creative 4 year relationship spanning over 10 individual campaigns. Working closely and collaboratively with the creative team at Commission Studio, this partnership has explored a range of creative concepts, taking the viewer on a journey through the natural world, the seasons, nourishing ingredients & florals and ancient philosophy; Light and Dark, Solar and Lunar, Ying and Yang…
Transformative experiences are at the heart of ‘The Harmonist’s’ ethos, a concept that Luke Evans has learnt and honed through his long-term understanding of the brand, resulting in a world of beautiful and boundary-pushing imagery .
Luke’s campaigns for ‘The Harmonist’ span across still imagery, motion, and the crafted details of the incidental shots, creating a cohesive set of visuals from the past four years. Inspiration for each campaign originates from the pre-Raphaelites to Depeche Mode; the works of Yves Klein, Barbara Hepworth and Peter Saville, amongst many other revered photographers, artists and designers, have all been acknowledged and, as a collection in itself, Luke’s body of work for the Harmonist is a creative ode to some of the late greats.
Luke’s most recent campaign for ‘The Harmonist’ takes the viewer on an interstellar journey. Celebrating the Oud and Florae Nebula fragrances, the campaign saw Luke working across mediums… Taking a hands-on approach experimental to his imagery, and always heavily inspired by the worlds of science, Luke explored fluid dynamics and the relationships between varying liquids to create otherworldly scenes reminiscent of galaxies. To achieve this, Luke tested ahead of the shoot, incorporating these motion pieces into the final assets…
Collaboratively working with Lead Creative, Matthew Lowe and Commission’s Designer & Illustrator, Jessica Keene, who lent her illustrative hand to ‘The Harmonist’s’ brand identity, which can be seen throughout their products, Luke’s studio has been his creative playground over recent years to experiment with a range of techniques: warm radiant light, long shadows to produce simple & graphic compositions of the product, mixed media collage, and playing with focus and depth to add a surrealist element, to name just a few… This creative variation and play, while maintaining the brand’s neutral and earthy (and often bold colour palettes too), has allowed these campaigns to take on a life of their own; a dance between creating brand-appropriate imagery, while exploring new boundaries and processes to create photography that excites and inspires.
This creative freedom was heavily explored for the ‘Ingredients’ campaign that approached the visuals in a more editorial and educational turn, focusing heavily on the raw materials of the perfume’s fragrance. Working with an archival encyclopaedia of imagery, text and drawings, paired with new imagery shot by Luke and found imagery from the brand, the resulting photographs act as a visual time capsule – exploring the perfume’s ingredients and the concept of heritage, history and culture that are so-often intertwined with the natural world and it’s products…
For the ‘Royal Earth’ campaign, Luke created a hero film alongside a series of multi-layered stills that explore the relationship between the iconic shape of The Harmonists’ fragrance bottle and the natural world that the campaign found inspiration in.
Shot on Super 8 film, Luke’s ‘Royal Earth’ motion piece dives head first into nature. Filmic palettes and grain pair with fast cuts and holistic visuals to create a raw and gentle visual adventure…
Luke has been completely trusted to deliver the creative and client’s vision across all campaigns, and this is testament to the trust bestowed by Commission and the brand. While big themes have been explored, from the elements of Earth in the Royal Earth campaign and the otherworldly essence found in the Nebulae campaign, each shoot is made up of a small, intimate team, shooting exclusively at Luke’s studio in North-East London.
Working in this way, with a core team, allows the productions to be streamlined, scaling up and down as needed depending on the creative. Collaboration through a close network of suppliers and contacts, has allowed the input and influence from Set Designers, Floral Specialists and Food/Ingredients Stylists .
Relationships with suppliers are paramount and this extended into the motion edit and the retouching of the stills too, as we worked with The Forge on all of Luke’s Harmonist campaigns. Understanding the precise nature of the post work that comes with a lot of our commissioned work, along with working to some tight timelines too, the team became and extension of Luke’s, working as one tight-knit unite, rather than a series of separate entities
The ‘Sun and Moon’ campaign allowed Luke to explore a different element to his photographic craft. Working with talent, Luke directed a motion piece for the campaign that allowed him to step out of the world of still life and lend his craft to a new world of photography…
Watch this space to see where the next phase of complex and experimental creative ideas go with The Harmonist and what sacred journey Luke will take us all on next…
PHOTOGRAPHER
@Luke Evans
PRODUCTION
@WREN Agency
AGENCY
@Commission Studio
CREATIVE
@Jessica Keene, Designer
PHOTO TEAM
@Tom Stewart, Lighting Assistant & Camera Operator
SET DESIGNER
@Imogen Frost
FLORAL STYLIST
@Kasia Borowiecka
INGREDIENTS
@Sarah Hardy