Depaul Trust : Homelessness Starts At Home

On behalf of a U.K. charity called Depaul Trust, this print and outdoor work aims to "give Londoners a compelling reason to donate to homeless people," explains Publicis/London writer/AD Andrew Petch. "By creating a campaign that drama

Published On
Jan 29, 2006
Homelessness Starts At Home

Editor's Pick

On behalf of a U.K. charity called Depaul Trust, this print and outdoor work aims to "give Londoners a compelling reason to donate to homeless people," explains Publicis/London writer/AD Andrew Petch. "By creating a campaign that dramatizes the root causes of homelessness, it helps people to understand why they should give, rather than just telling them they have to." Are these actual homeless people? "They were originally going to be, but due to legal reasons here in the U.K. we had to switch to models at the last minute. So we worked that little bit harder on the styling of each model to maintain realism and integrity." At the same time, these people are so far back in the frame they don't have that in-your-face impact that one might think is necessary to reach the target on an emotional level. But Petch and his colleagues had another approach in mind. "For this campaign to have an effect, we wanted viewers to feel the isolation, loneliness and despair of the homeless person in each shot. Location, the type of tree and the light were critical to capturing these emotions. The creative idea required us to shoot wide to capture the entire tree, which indeed makes the person small in the frame. But we found that seeing homeless people in the harshness of their surroundings was more powerful than seeing them up close." Photography by Swiss-born, London-based landscape shooter Ernst Fischer, who in fact has a portfolio called Trees of London. See www.ernstfischer.com.

Credits

Date
Jan 30, 2006
Client :
Depaul Trust
Creative Director :
Nik Studzinski
Copywriter/Art Director :
Andrew Petch
Copywriter/Art Director :
Cameron Blackley
Photographer :
Ernst Fischer
Agency :
Publicis-London
Brand :
Depaul Trust

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