Gary S. Chapman: Freshly Pharmaceutical for Janssen

Janssen, the Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, has a team of over 30,000 people working tirelessly to treat and cure some of the most complex and devastating diseases of our time. From HIV to cancer, it is Janssen’s mission to show its commitment to health issues that affect the public every day. Atlanta-based photographer Gary S. Chapman connected with Janssen’s art director, Mark Krajnak, via Twitter years ago.

Mark had followed me on twitter and left comments on my work from time to time. It was after several years of Twitter contact that led to a coffee meet-up in NYC during PhotoExpo. Since then I have been shooting assignments for him.

Gary started with an assignment for Mark in Georgia. Mark appreciated the photojournalistic aspect of Gary’s humanitarian work and thought his style would translate well into the look and feel of what Janssen wanted for their corporate library. 

The goal of the campaign was for Janssen to replace the stock images on their site with genuine photos and videos of their employees at their various locations, including Belgium, Germany, Italy, China, Japan, Brazil, and the US.

Janssen wanted Gary to capture moments or “slices of life” in their offices and manufacturing plants. In order to authentically photograph this, Gary decided during pre-production planning not to carry a lot of lighting equipment and to bring an assistant to carry his alternative lenses.

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The biggest challenge for Gary was not knowing what the lighting would be, so the team had to be quick on their feet to create simple set-ups that balanced authentic emotions with beautiful light. 

Working for a pharmaceutical company meant some of the environments were sterile. We often had to work with bulky, unwieldy masks and suits. At times I felt like an astronaut, going from chamber to chamber, suiting up and un-suiting again and again.

The team that selected Gary for the shoot gave him great feedback. They have already started to update their website with the new images. Gary was able to expand his network during the project. He met many different people, which he describes as the highlight of his assignment.

I love different cultures and it was amazing to see how each country reflected the culture, even though they are all involved in the same global work.

Janssen has a few more facilities that need representation on their website. Needless to say, Gary is enthusiastic about covering those places and people as well.

See more of Gary’s work on his website.

Further Reading:
Read more articles about Gary S. Chapman.
Read more articles about Healthcare photography.

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