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Each year Progressive Insurance picks a new theme to highlight in their Annual Report. In 2015 they commissioned artist Jason Middlebrook to respond to their selected theme of Continuity, and asked New York photographer Karen Pearson to photograph and video Jason’s artwork to showcase in the Progressive Annual Report as well as the Progressive website.
Karen had worked with Jason in the past, so when the art director of the Progressive project reached out, Karen jumped on the opportunity to photograph his work and to get a better sense of his inspiration for his work. The assignment was very open-ended, with the only guideline being to shoot what inspired Jason.
I looked for patterns and sources in his environment that reflected the messages and imagery he created. Black and white brought out the textures and shape the best and separated the atmospheric from the shots of his artwork.
Scheduling the shoots was one of the most difficult aspects of the project. Progressive had a tight deadline and Jason was busy and traveling a lot of the time, so finding the time to devote to shooting took some juggling. Karen also had to wait for Jason to complete some commissioned pieces for Progressive before she could shoot them.
The first shoot went well and set the tone for the rest. It was just me and I shot natural light so everything was very low key.
Once the shooting schedule was in place, Karen noticed that fall days and colder weather were also cutting into her shooting time. This was especially challenging as she relied on changing light to give a new perspective to the studio. Throughout the whole process, though, she was careful to make sure her lighting and stylistic choices came secondary to Jason’s work.
It wasn’t about my work or perspective, but about Jason’s art. There had to be a quietness and background feel to the images. We had to be sure from a design standpoint that the photography didn’t overshadow the artwork.
Despite some bumps along the way, Karen was able to get fantastic shots of Jason’s artwork, and said that working on the project allowed her to really examine what she could find and see with her own eyes.
Sometimes we feel like we need all the equipment and crew to set us apart as professionals, but in the end it’s about going the extra mile in finding the photo and then reinforcing that in the final edit.
The response to the project has been great so far, with a complex printed book and a digital copy. Karen hopes that more people get to view the beautiful book designed by Nesnadny + Schwartz in person, as it has many complex cutouts and layovers that aren’t visible in the digital piece.
To view more of Karen’s work, check out karenpearson.com.