The Lounge: Stash Artists

Launched earlier this spring, the website explains:

STASH

a collection of artists that share ideology and aesthetic before craft.

Stash represents, but is not limited to, photographers, illustrators, designers and film makers.

Beyond the traditional work-to-order approach to production, Stash advocates a spontaneous, commission style approach with a respect for the artist’s personal working process.

Stash has a depth of expertise that can be as simple as production of an idea or as comprehensive as seeing a project through, from creative development through execution.

Collaboration; our new favourite buzz word here at HMAb, is part in parcel of working with the newbie local outfit: Stash artists. As this thesis statement subtley implies (and the people involved with Stash will overtly tell you), there is no sense trying to retrofit Stash artists to more traditional commercial commissions. Look at their work- what you see is likely more or less what you’ll get (and what you should want to get). Let’s have a look:

Killa old-school typography from Nicholas Kennedy:

Illustrators are soooo crazy. For example, Kathryn Macnaughton:

This could be the second time this shot by Joanne Ratajczak has appeared on HMAb but I think it works hard enough to earn that distinction:

Here’s some sexy from Eva Michon:

Hey Levi’s and Wrangler. Two words: Mark Peckmezian (also here in a previous HMAb post).

Perhaps the most commercially focused, Jesse Senko is also an Art Director at GJP. I love this series of the Waterford Fire Department. Seriously, what has Jesse done with his strobes to make these guys look like so much more than a group of small town Fire Fighters?

And in case you were wondering (like I was) whether the Stash Artists have played with motion, here’s something beautiful Jesse did for Cougar Shoes:

Cougar Shoes from Jesse Senko on Vimeo.

And here’s a video from Eva:

Bishop Morocco—Disco Guitars from Eva Michon on Vimeo.

Last week, I shared a lovely lunch with the brains behind Stash- Lisa Bonnici, Pascal Alhani and Jesse Senko, so that they could show me their fresh-off-the-press portfolios (more on that below). We talked a lot about what Stash was and wasn’t and what kind of opportunities may present themselves for a collective of artists working in this way. Though Jesse shows some definite commercial applications on his website (and illustrators and typographers are forgiven for having a narrowly defined style), the majority of Stash photography is photojournalistic, editorial, personal, and even analogue. It will be a special kind of client who recognizes how to use a shooter like Eva Michon. Argueably, Mark Peckmezian’s ambitious and interesting portrait of Bell CEO George Cope for Report on Business just isn’t up to par with similar shots of his pretty young friends. But that’s OK. If we’ve learned anything from Ryan McGinley, it’s that mood pieces can play a strong hand in commercial endeavours, you just have to cast them right.

Once again, then, a call for a different kind of agency and client that can align themselves with something more personal and artistic, less comped and researched. If done right and consistently, the pay-off in terms of brand development is huge, but the pay out in terms of immediate sales, may not be. Long-haul brand overhaul (see Cougar Shoes above) vs. demonstrative addy-ad (like this one for Pizza Hut from Jesse. The line: Kids Eat Free Every Tuesday- get it, the kid drove HIS car to dinner):

Problem is, current agency culture is designed to come up with this Pizza Hut ad and not the Cougar Shoes video. So I asked the Stash folks about the future:

Dream job: Adidas, Artizea, anything which allows them to collaborate on a project together, from Art Direction to photography and styling.

Agency that might best utilize them: Sid Lee

Future plans: Monthly Stash meetings- open to anyone!

Portfolios: Books are so traditional. Rather, Stash uses an unassuming portfolio case to hold a box instead- a treasure trove of prints of all sizes and shapes. Riffing on the inspirational theme and feeling of them, I want to see other stuff in there too- sketches, matchbooks, candy wrappers…

I can honestly say I’ve never had as much fun looking at photographer’s portfolios as I did when I looked at these. In keeping with their entire brand, the Stash “books” are anything but. Mark’s beautiful box contains contact prints with original darkroom notes on the back and Joanne includes a map of her route through Poland, during which many of her images were taken. Here are some pictures (click for bigger- you’re going to want to see what’s in them).:

Fantastic!

Stash has got a powerful roster with an unproven, albeit envious, working model. We’ll check back and see how they make out. For many reasons, I am hopeful.