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In this photo, you can see a small family. The young daughter is running around, playing with her mum whilst the dad is standing watching. All three of them are laughing and smiling, creating a positive atmosphere. The expressions on their faces have captured the excitement and joy that can be felt through the image. There is a slight blur on the mother and daughter which brings the photo to life as the viewer can imagine the movement made in the moment. In the foreground, two trees are visible that frame the sides of the photo. Both of the trees are out of focus which draws your attention to the family in the background. As there is not a lot else going on in the photo, your attention goes straight to the family. The blurred trees in the foreground are also darker than the background so they lead you to the subject. The family are also all wearing white tops which helps the viewer’s attention focus on the subject.

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decisive: Shoot 1

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Initial response to the brief

My initial thoughts about the brief are mostly positive as there is a lot to do with street and landscape photography which I both enjoy. My main concerns would be not being able to find interesting subjects that will capture the attention of the viewer and that the lighting and shadows may not be strong enough in my photos. In the past I have researched both landscape and street photographers, such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, so I am looking forward to researching more into his work and ‘The Decisive Moment’. I am most looking forward to being outside and taking photos and also researching new photographers. I currently l have a few ideas for this brief but after doing some research I should have some more. To conclude, I feel confident that I will be able to complete all work from within the time frame to the best of my ability.

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Decisive brief annotated

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Amnesty International

Amnesty international is one of the world's leading companies that promotes and campaigns all about human rights. The company has been helping others all around the world for over 50 years, bringing attention to human rights abuse. Amnesty International currently has around 7 million supporters across 150 different countries.

Amnesty international was founded in July, 1961 by Peter Benenson in London, England. Peter Benenson was a lawyer who disliked discrimination and injustice, he was a human rights activist. His hatred towards discrimination and injustice lead him to create Amnesty International to create more equality and to give justice to those in need. Amnesty was first founded after Beneson was outraged by an article about two men being sentenced to 7 years in prison after making a toast to freedom that had been published in ‘The Observer’. Benenson wrote to the newspaper and asked those who wanted to show support for those imprisoned for political and religious beliefs to write to him. This led to the creation of Amnesty International after a meeting was held with Beneson and six other men. The company's first office space was in London and once the company grew big enough there, it started to open other offices in Africa, Asia, central and Eastern Europe, and many other areas around the world. Benenson only worked for the company for 5 years until 1966 when he resigned. The company challenges inequality across the globe trying to bring justice and to help empower people. Some of the changes in the world they have helped make are: abolishing the death penalty across Europe, they have helped to protect both sexual and reproductive rights and have defended the right of migrants and refugees. Amnesty international speaks out for everyone that needs their help, especially when some or all of their freedom has been taken away.

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All about Nike

The American sports brand, Nike, was first founded by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight in 1964 and was initially named Blue Ribbon Sports Seven years later in 1971 the name was officially changed to Nike. The idea behind the name comes from the Greek goddess of victory. Knight has always had the mindset of wanting to be first and to be the best in anything he takes part in so it makes sense for his brand’s name to mean represent victory. Since 1971, Nike has grown to be one of the biggest sporting companies and now sells around 780 million pairs of shoes a year.

Phil Knight, born 24th February 1938, studied at the University of Oregon. His track coach invented the waffle sole for shoes who he worked with in the future to create sneakers. Knight started off as an accountant but moved on to selling the pairs of sneakers he made with the help from his track coach from the boot of his car. Knight had the ambition to import high quality running shoes from Japan to America made for a low cost. After graduating with a degree in business administration from Stanford, Knight planned a trip around the world after graduation. He made sure to stop at Kobe in Japan to find out if his plan would be able to work.

Knight eventually started his brand, Nike, in 1971 and the first years were spent focusing on creating unique shoe designs. It was very important that Nike creates the most comfortable shoes to wear and also the best looking. Along with his team, knight was creating over 350 new designs each year. During the mid 70’s, Nike sources the shoes to be made in South Korea and Taiwan as this meant low labour costs for the brand. The low costs helped to give Nike an advantage over the competitors in Europe. After a while the company moved to having the shoes made in China and Indonesia because the labour costs got too expensive. Nike received backlash for only paying the workers around $2.40 when the workers were making over 50 million pairs of shoes each year. The brand received backlash when news got out that the Nike workers were being abused in China and Indonesia. If a mistake was made in the making of a shoe, the worker was forced to wear them and run around the factory; another was forced to clean toilets. Nike denied any responsibility for the abuse the workers received and claimed it was out of their hands.

As the brand grew more popular, the shoes became more of a fashion statement which led to 70% of sales being for fashion and 30% of sales for sports. Despite this, the knight kept to having the brand directed to sports. When the brand started to become more of a fashion trend, it led to the ban of branded trainers in schools to prevent peer pressure children received when they weren’t wearing the popular, branded trainers. To help with more sports sales, Nike would give their products to athletes such as John Macarow to wear when playing to advertise the brand. Nike would choose athletes who were more competitive and outgoing to promote the brand. They moved on to recruit Michael Jordan to be one of the faces of the brand and a line of shoes named after him. Nike was paying Jordan $500,000 per year to wear the brand when playing basketball matches. Sales increased as people felt if they wear what the athletes are wearing, that they would perform better in their own games. Michael Jordan was seen as a hero which also helped to bring in more sales.

Nike also became the official USA Olympic costumes and all clothing was designed and made by Nike.

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Nike Research: Branded 1996- Phil Knight Nike documentary

Information i collected from watching the documentary:

Mid 70s Nike sources shoes from South Korea and Taiwan low labour costs which gave him an advantage over his European competitors

Moved to China and Indonesia

50mil pairs of shoes a year

received backlash for not paying workers enough $2.40 and the abuse they received made to clean toilets run around and wear the shoes they messed up

knight did not see it as his fault

High prices up to $100

Prefer to use competitive athletes to promote the brand John macarow

$500,000 paid to Michael Jordan each year to be one of the faces of the brand - He brought in more sales and was seen as the hero

Public feel they will perform better in sports if they wear the same shoes

Trainers led to peer pressure in school so schools had to ban trainers from uniform

Brand turned into a fashion culture for those not interested in sports

Official USA Olympic costumes were designed and made by nike.

One of the fastest growing brands

95-96 4.8-6.5 billion dollars in a year

Nike head quarters built in Oregon as a shrine to sporting excellence and where Phil knight studied - has a cathedral, uni campus, corridors are filled with he heritage of the brand of famous athletes, restaurants, laundry, hairdressers, a gym, Entrance walk across rocky road symbolises a man's journey from an uncertain past to a more promising future”

Nike-Greek goddess of victory-represents knights want to be the best

Knight was an accountant and would sell trainers from the boot of his car

Nike born in 1971

Worked with his track coach who invented the waffle sole to create sneakers

First ten years spent creating the perfect shoes

Over 350 designs per year

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Oliverio Toscani and 'We on Death Row' research:

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The start vs the end

Both of the ad campaigns, ‘The Face of AIDS’ and ‘We on Death Row’ are controversial topics to talk about and to use to advertise a brand.

The AIDS campaign was helpful as it was able to bring attention to a disease that was being ignored. In ‘We on Death Row’, the lives of the men photographed do not have long left to live and the focus is spread across a group of prisoners. In the AIDS ad campaign, the focus is solely on David Kirby and the reality of how the disease kills. Both ad campaigns are showing sympathy to the people shown and Benetton made them all out to be victims. In both ad campaigns, the people shown all know that they will die soon and there is nothing they can do about it. The difference between Kirby and the prisoners is that a lot more people feel the prisoners deserved to die over Kirby because of the crimes that they committed. The prisoners are also alone in their final days apart from the prison guards whereas Kirby is surrounded by his family and those who love him. Another difference the AIDS campaign has over ‘We on Death Row’ is that Kirby did good in his life by spreading awareness for AIDS and helping to save millions of lives in the future. Kirby’s actions were good unlike the men on death row.

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The "Gay Plague"

In the spring of 1990, gay activist David Kirby died from having AIDS at the age of 32. Journalist Therese Frare captured the image above of Kirby on his deathbed, surrounded by his family. This image is known as “The Face of AIDS” and it quickly became a symbol of the disease that has killed millions of people.

Frare’s image captured the heartbreak and devastation felt by many families of the loss of a loved one taken away by the deadly disease. The original image was black and white and was published in an issue of LIFE Magazine in 1990. In the photo you can see Kirby to the left of the picture being held by ones of his family members. You can see the hands of another family member who is standing on the left side of the bed. At the end of the bed to the right of the photo there is a woman hugging a young girl whilst both look towards Kirby.

During the 1990s, AIDS was a big issue and the number one cause of death for men. AIDS was widely found in homosexual men and due to the hat for those who were gay, the disease was overlooked and ignored. Two years later, with the permission from Kirby’s family and Frare, Benetton chose to use the image to help raise awareness for AIDS in one of their ad campaigns. Oliverio Toscani, the art director for Benetton, felt that the lack of colour was a problem. Toscani got artist Ann Rhoney to colour the photo using oil paints. The colour helped to make the photo appear more realistic and bring more attention to AIDS. In 1992 when Benetton used this image, the disease had become the number one cause of death for men between the ages of 25-44 in America. Toscani felt that it was important to use real life problems in the company’s advertisements to help spread a message. By using the problems people were facing, it brought more attention to Benetton. Other companies were too afraid of the backlash and negative review they would receive if they took the same approach with ad campaigns.

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Where did it all go wrong?

"We On Death Row" was an ad campaign directed by Oliviero Toscani for Benetton, published in 1999, that received a lot of backlash from the public.

This ad campaign was made up of 96 pages that was attached to the February issue of Talk magazine in 1999. The advert was titled “We, On Death Row” and it featured photographs of 26 condemned men from different states across the US. Each inmate had a written profile and most were sympathetic towards them. There was very little detail on what crime each of the inmates were convicted of committing. The 26 inmates were portrayed as victims through the ad campaign which did not go down well with the public. At the time, Benetton relied on the US for 5% of its business and were keen to expand the brand there but this particular advertisement led to the loss in business. Benetton’s spokesman, Frederico Santor, commented on the situation at the time saying that the company “didn’t fully calculate the emotional reaction it was going to cause,”. A lot of Americans were outraged by the ad campaign, especially the families of the victims.

Dr Joanne Wilson, whose brother was murdered by one of the inmates featured in the ad campaign, spoke out and made the comment “I cannot believe that someone would sell clothing using the suffering of the families of the victims and even the Death Row inmates themselves,”. Benetton was forced to apologise over the controversial advert and to make a charitable donation after the Italian fashion company were accused by the US government for misleading officials to gain access to the inmates.

Capital punishment is widely supported over in the US unlike in Europe. With a high number of people supporting the death penalty, the ad campaign led to Benetton losing a lot of business across America: California asked for a boycott of the company along with the State of Pennsylvania asking for a nationwide boycott of all Benetton products; Benetton was soon after sued by Missouri. The State Attorney General for Missouri, Jay Nixon, commented on the situation stating “Death row is not for sale,”. He has also made a comment on how Benetton has misrepresented the intentions the brand had when they received access to the inmates and how it seemed Benetton were just using the inmates to promote their product in an insensitive way.

Sears Roebuck, the retail company based in Chicago, almost instantly tore up a franchising contract they had with Benetton to end all sales and manufacturing of Benetton-labelled clothes in the same month as the campaign was released. The company made the choice to end the contract and remove all Benetton clothes from their shelves after a group representing the relatives of the murder victims, including the parents of a mudered child, staged a protest outside of Sears head office in New York mid-February.

Due to the advert receiving a lot of backlash and a lot of hate, it led to Toscani resigning from his position as art director for Benetton. Toscani went on to become the creative director of Talk magazine and made his own comment on “We, On Death Row” and expressed no remorse. In an interview Toscani stated, “I don’t regret campaigning for something that is in the Ten Commandments,” and believes “anything that is at all interesting in our society is going to produce an interesting reaction,”. When asked about the reaction from Sears, Toscani commented that he was “disappointed that they did such an obvious thing. It is not a good sign in a modern company.”

Jerry Della Famina made the comment that the project went “one step two far.” which many would agree with. He went on to comment that Benetton’s advertising was “tasteless” and “ineffective” whereas some may argue it was effective because it helped to bring a lot of attention to the Italian brand and got a lot of people talking.

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Toscani's work with Benetton

Photographer Oliviero Toscani started working with Benetton in 1982 as their art director for all ad campaigns until 2000.

During Toscani’s time working with Benetton, he created ad campaigns about controversial subjects to communicate a statement and a message to all viewers. He has been able to spread creativity to the viewers and bring awareness to racism, human rights, religion, diseases and multiculturalism.

Throughout the 18 years Toscani worked with Benetton, he was able to create the image, identity and the online presence of Benetton and also improved the communication strategy. Toscani's work helped the company grow bigger and become one of the best known clothing brands in the world. He takes any opportunity to use creative angles in his work and the concept and communication behind every ad campaign is very important to Toscani. Through his way of producing work, Toscani was able to help Benetton grow 20 times in size.

Most of Toscani's ad campaigns consisted of a controversial image with the Benetton logo on with only a few of the adverts including words. Toscani has commented and has shared his views on how it is equally as important for companies to promote their products but it is also important for a company to demonstrate social sensitivity to negatively viewed topics. He believes companies with a bigger audience should be using their platform and influence to bring awareness to such topics.

Toscani made his work about engaging with issues during that moment of time, bringing awareness to sensitive topics. With the lack of words in each ad campaign, the images had to speak for themselves. This meant the meaning behind each advertisement was say-what-you-see which was very successful for Benetton and brought a lot of attention to the brand. The controversial ad campaigns helped to grow the brand and increase sales. The ads did not have much to do with clothes so it got people who were not really into fashion talking about Benetton, helping the brand reach a wider audience and gain new customers.

Some of the Benetton ad campaigns directed by Toscani have included a nun and priest kissing; a white woman, a black woman and an asian baby wrapped up together in a blanket and a man with aids, on his deathbed, surrounded by his family. He has made a few ad campaigns that include a few words such as a photo of three hearts lined up next to each other with the words “White”, “Black” and “Asian” on each. The controversial topics Toscani brought to life made Benetton ads talking points in many conversations because he would never shy away from divisive visual statements.

Everything was going well for Toscani and Benetton until the ad campaign titled "We On Death Row" was published. In 1999, "We, On Death Row" was an ad campaign Toscani directed for Benetton which consisted of photographs of prisoners on death row along with statements about each. The campaign message was that those on death row were victims. The advert received a lot of backlash and a lot of hate, which led to Toscani resigning from his position as art director for Benetton.

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United Colors of Benetton

The italian clothing brand, United Colors of Benetton,

is renowned worldwide for their bright colours,social commitment and the expertise behind all of their knitwear.

United Colors of Benetton was founded in 1965 in Treviso, Italy, co-founded by Luciano Benetton, Gilberto Benetton, Giuliana Benetton and Carlo Benetton. The clothing brand has a blend of italian style mixed with styles from across globe that they have found through style research. Benetton's aim is to produce high quality clothing for all of their customers and to produce clothes fitting with the current trends. Benetton also takes into consideration the impact the brand will have on the environment. In 1982, Benetton hired photographer Oliviero Toscani to become the new art director for all ad campaigns. Toscani's work became talking points across many countries which helped the company to grow 20 times in size. Toscani worked with Benetton from 1982 for 18 years until 2000 when he resigned after the company received a lot of backlash from their ad campaign “We, On Death Row”. The backlash also led to a loss of contracts for Benetton causing the company to lose out on sales.

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Oliviero Toscani

Oliveiro Toscani is an Italian photographer, born in 1942, in Milan, Italy. Toscani is known worldwide for being the mastermind and the creative force behind some of the most famous ad campaigns, newspapers and magazines. He has worked with many different companies including Esprit, Chanel, Fiorucci, Benetton and more.

Before working for multiple brands, from 1961 to 1965, Toscani studied graphics and photography at the University of Arts in Zurich. For 18 years, Toscani was the art director for the italian clothing brand United Colours of Benetton from 1982 until 2000. Toscani is the son of the first photojournalist for Corriere Della Sera. His father, Fedele Toscani was a photojournalist of Italy’s well known daily newspaper and Toscani says he inherited his father’s photography style. Toscani’s style can be seen through the work he directed for Benetton’s ad campaigns. When talking about his previous work, Toscani has explained he never tried using shock tactics or to make his work controversial; to him it was about engaging with issues and bringing attention to reality.

"I tell a story with images relating to the moment of history i am in," - Oliviero Toscani