Seth Lowe: Inspiring Stories for OSF Healthcare

Peoria, Ill.-based commercial, lifestyle, and portrait photographer Seth Lowe‘s recent campaign for OSF Healthcare will definitely tug on your heartstrings. Seth photographed real people who survived horrible circumstances and awful medical issues, all thanks to the employees and technology at OSF. Check out the final images with some insight from Seth below:

How did this project fit into your photographic style?

I’ve always had the pleasure of working on projects with nonprofits that are fulfilling, or editorial assignments that allowed for a lot of creative freedom and were fun. When I stepped out into shooting, I adopted a personal statement that really drove a lot of my work: “real people, real life.”  When the concept for this campaign was presented, I got really excited because of how closely it lined up with all of the personal projects and nonprofit work I had been doing. I’ve really strived to establish some common ground and connection with the subject before just picking up the camera, and I think agency really liked that. I had done a small project for this client before, so they had gotten a feel for both my personality and how I handled a set.

Did you encounter any challenges while shooting this project?

All of these people had been through some serious trauma, and being able to get them comfortable and relaxed in front of the camera was pretty tough at times. It can be awkward having your photo taken when you feel great, let alone after you’ve walked through some life altering medical conditions. I think there is usually a lot of timidness when asking people about medical issues, but in this situation they were proud of what they had overcome, so it just took a little boldness to ask their story, and connect with them over that. Having an honest conversation, and hearing the subjects stories helped create some honest moments that were really great. We weren’t able to location scout prior to shoot days, so the Art Director and I had to collaborate pretty tightly on set to make sure we created an image not only supported each individual story, but fit into the overall campaign consistently.

Did you learn anything through the creation of this series?

I learned a lot about just slowing down on set. We often fight to not only stay on schedule, but are race to be ahead of it. There were a couple times where we had to sacrifice the ‘cool’ shot for the sake of the layout, but overall I am really happy with the results. Sometimes I get really focused on stretching myself technically or creatively, but stretching your ability to connect with people in different scenarios is equally, if not more important.

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