The Case Study Project
2020 Women’s Work exhibition - UNDEREXPOSED
Exhibiting Photographer Aroha Mai, Aroha Atu and co-Social Media Manager for Women’s Work
This campaign ‘The Case Study Project’ was filmed to get the Collective’s challenging message directly in the faces of advertising agencies and their creative departments.
The case study film features the previously unseen campaign of 24 posters that highlight the disturbing fact that of all the photography used in advertising less than 15% is shot by women.
It may sound nonsensical, however it’s a calculated approach to get the Collective’s challenging message directly in the faces of advertising agencies and their creative departments.
The case study film features the previously unseen campaign of 24 posters that highlight the disturbing fact that of all the photography used in advertising less than 15% is shot by women.
It then goes further by calling out agencies, asking them to start deliberately and consciously put women photographers on their shortlists for future projects.
Says Victoria Baldwin, creative director, Women’s Work: “We’ve calculated that less than 15% of photographers in advertising are women. But realistically, the percentage globally is probably less than half that.
“We asked Saatchi & Saatchi to help promote our talented New Zealand women photographers. They however suggested going bigger by using this opportunity to highlight this global issue of unconscious bias to the world, and so The Case Study Project was born.”
Says Steve Cochran, CCO at Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand, Women’s Work’s partner agency: “Our deliberate and transparent ambition for this campaign is to enter into Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in order to get our message directly in front of the creative community’s most influential leaders. In, what might sound very meta, our case study about our ads is actually our ad.
“Some might say creating a case study about ads that never ran to enter into an award show is a bit cynical or bending rules. But we think there’s poetic irony in using an unseen advertising campaign featuring women’s photography to highlight that fact women’s photography in advertising is just that – relatively unseen.
Says Kristal Knight, CD at Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand: “Our global CCO, Kate Stanners, has advocated for all Saatchi & Saatchi offices around the world to make women a consideration on any pitch list, both photographers and directors.
“So The Case Study Project is about challenging ourselves and every other agency to do that. Yes, we’ve called out numerous globally renowned agencies with a blatant shot-gun approach to purely get attention and provoke – but what we are really looking to do here is to create real, tangible change.”
The Case Study Project has been released online before the Cannes cut-off deadline to make sure it qualifies as a piece of work in itself.
More information about Women’s Work and links to their photographers can be found on their website www.womenswork.photography.
The original exhibition dates in March were scuppered by the sudden change in Auckland’s Covid Alert Levels. Undeterred, the collective behind the exhibition pivoted to turn their International Women’s Day panel into a well-attended virtual event on March 8th.
Says Victoria Baldwin, Women’s Work founder and photographer: “We really believe in this project, so of course we weren’t going to let one setback prevent it from going ahead. With the success of our inaugural show in 2020, I learned just how ready our industry is for change, so we’re thrilled to announce our new dates.”
Saatchi & Saatchi, who created a campaign exploring the show’s theme of ‘Underexposed’ for the exhibition, have crafted a new and provocative strategy to convey Women’s Work’s message in The Case Study Project. The new campaign is a direct call out to the advertising and creative industries, including Saatchi & Saatchi itself, to seek out the many talented women photographers working in NZ
Says Kristal Knight, creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi: “A large chunk of responsibility sits with advertising creators and clients who often work with the same roster of male photographers. But much of this comes from a genuine lack of awareness of female photographers or their work. Which begs the question, is it the female photographers who are underexposed? Or is it us? This initiative is about overcoming this road block.”
The collective behind Women’s Work wants to flip the idea of being ‘underexposed’ onto the audience, so the exhibition becomes an opportunity to see what they’ve been missing, rather than simply drawing attention to a lack of representation.
Women make up the majority of photography students in NZ universities, up to 70–80% in some courses, however the number of women professional photographers represented by top photo agents in NZ is much lower, closer to 16%. It is the collective’s hope that by uniting, they can challenge the norms in the photography industry and create a level playing field for all. They are supported in this mission by Eight Production who have a strong commitment to empowering women in the film industry and work towards a 50/50 pledge equal representation of men and women on set.
Women’s Work photographer Melanie Jenkins of the busy Flash Studios remarks how important it is to have “supportive clients” to keep women in the workforce. Photographer Shona Dey similarly agrees: “There shouldn’t be a tradeoff between balancing raising kids and running a business for photographers or anyone else.”
Forbes reports women make up 70-80% of consumer purchasing decisions, but most of the images used to market and influence those decisions are often created by men. The collective’s goal with this year’s show is to shine a light on the underexposed female perspective, and in turn, the wealth of talent here in NZ to create those visions.
Says Sacha Stejko, signed to photography agency IDC: “My biggest obstacle is getting noticed. The industry has always been known to be a bit of a boys club and, as a female photographer, I have learnt to take a ‘be so good they can’t ignore you’ approach. Once you’ve been noticed, you have to constantly prove yourself.”
A special thanks to all our supporters: AIPA (Advertising and Illustrative Photographers Association), Sony, Auckland Council, Ellen Melville Centre, Saatchi & Saatchi, Eight Productions, Omni Graphics, Pacey Production Company, Frank Advice, and IDC (Image Driven Content).
Exhibition Details- Women’s Work | Underexposed
Location: Pioneer Women’s Hall Ellen Melville Centre,
Cnr High St & Freyberg Place, Auckland 1010
Dates: Saturday 29 May – Tuesday June 1
Times: Sat – Sun 10-5pm, Mon 9 – 5pm, Tue 9am – 4pm
Cost: Free