For global brand consultancy Landor & Fitch, photographer Geert De Taeye created a striking image series around the theme of collaboration - reimagining iconic founding stories through surreal key visuals.
At the center are well-known brands - not in their established form, but as playful origin stories. De Taeye translates business collaboration into imaginative scenes that oscillate between reality and fiction.
“We created a series of images around the theme of ‘collaboration’. We were asked to develop a creative idea about collaboration in business. One image shows the founders of Nike as kids, taking other children’s toys and melting them in a waffle iron to create the first Nike soles. Another is inspired by a young Procter and a young Gamble, discovering just how much fun a bit of washing powder can create. A third image tells the story of Ben & Jerry’s, showing a young Ben and Jerry experimenting with new flavors and painting all the animals on the farm as cows - making a playful statement that they simply need more cows to produce their ice cream.”
The strength of the work lies in its balance of precise staging and narrative lightness. Elaborately built sets, cinematic lighting and a refined sense of timing give the images an almost filmic quality - while leaving space for humor, irony and interpretation.