Capturing the connection

20 Nov 2018

People often say a picture paints a thousand words. Although the original quote was actually ‘One picture is worth ten thousand words.’ as written by Fred R. Barnard in 1921 who published a piece commending the effectiveness of graphics in advertising. To maximize this principle and capture the soul of the business and reflect the ethos of honesty, integrity and people, Timber Connection turned to renowned portrait photographer Jonathan Oakes, who’s esteemed work features in the National Portrait Gallery.

Selina Catherall, Marketing Manager at Timber Connection explains “images are so important, however they had to be real, nothing staged, no models, props or false smiles! In a world of filters and stock photography we wanted to communicate our brand by authentically showing our products and our people and capture the connections that make us a success. This is how we found Jonathan, his work and ability to capture the real personality resonated so strongly with us!”

Jonathan adds “I enjoyed meeting the team in both the warehouse and on the administrative side and it struck me that it was these individual’s dedication and thoroughness together with a universal knowledge of the vast stocks and range of timbers they import that made them the business’s greatest asset. I decided I wanted to show, through a series of images, how each team member contributed. I didn’t want the images to appear formal and posed but instead contribute to a visual story showing key figures in their working environments and at the same time show the vastness of the operation. I’m really pleased with the end result which successfully shows how the management team are friendly, hands on, down to earth and approachable whilst the team in the warehouse are professional, organised and thorough. We also succeeded in showing the vast range of products stocked in a unique and interesting way.”

The photography will form the basis of an advertising campaign spanning the next 12 months, so keep your eyes peeled for some familiar faces in the trade press, or see numerous images now by exploring our website.