ARC`TERYX: OUTER PEACE
December 14, 2022 // Commissioned Work
Our crew drove through a blizzard-snowstorm on dogsled, filmed for 10 days straight under intense cold and yet we managed to photograph and film an advertising campaign. This project for Arc`teryx will go down as the most difficult and challenging advertising project I ever worked on. Both the overall vision as well as the journey creating it.
This blog about photographing this series Arc`teryx: Outer Peace is a raw look into the journey, both the grueling aspects as well as the camaraderie among our team that kept positive spirits during the entire journey. Now that we have aired the photo series and the commercial at the medium platforms of Arc`teryx. I can finally share the final series with you here. Here's how it all began…
Since the first time I got in contact with the Arc`teryx marketing leader, I kept a close watch and offered to help in any way possible. One year crept by. Finally, the opportunity arose for us to shoot something together. When we were brainstorming concepts, we wanted to find a sport other than climbing and mountain running, but could still give the clothes proper justice.
We developed a crazy idea- let’s shoot a luxury brand campaign for Arc`teryx in some of Norway’s most extreme and well-known landscapes, using one model and a mushing crew. Let’s show to the world the unique qualities that this country and culture have to offer, but in a high-end way without the cliches of the way “Scandinavia” is usually presented.
As the photographer and the person collecting the team together while making all of the arrangements, I felt tremendous honor, but also burden to do a good job. The advertising work I photograph always emulates the way I shoot personal projects. My place as a photographer has never been in the fashion world, so rather than try to emulate a style I am unfamiliar with, I wanted to shoot it the same way I would approach anything else. I envisioned the photographs as part reportage and part environmental portrait. Our subject Rebecca were a beautiful model, so there was no point in hiding her natural beauty with excessive makeup or accessories. This allowed us to focus on Arc`teryx outerwear and the greater vision, but also for me to preserve photographic motifs present in all my other personal work, and keep it cohesive.
Beyond the prologue above, I am happy to share with you my journal from the trip which captures some details of the journey.
My Journal - 30 hours to departure. Kimo and I were driving home after picking up the Arc`teryx collection and props to be used in the advertising video. Considering all of the heavy camera gear, our only option of transport was to drive all the way up to Troms county. We were discussing the final details of the shootlist. Suddenly a squeaky noise erupts from the front of the car. At least ten different warning lamps started to blink aggressively. The brake on the right front wheel had stopped working. We were driving on the highway without any way of slowing down. Upon reaching my full stress potential, Kimo kept his cool. He quickly adopted a new driving technique to make the rest of the way home "safe". Transitioning from pushing the gas to releasing it and letting the car roll. After rolling home, the stress alters from worrying about surviving the present moment, to not knowing what the future holds. The only chance of making this trip was to fix the car. With only a handful of hours to spare, this felt like an impossible task.
Early next morning, hours went by before finding an auto repair shop that got time for a drop-in. Finally, we got in touch with a local one. They told us it was a gamble and they couldn`t promise anything. Out of desperation, we delivered the car with a newly bought caliper and brake discs to the mechanic. They did their magic and got the job done right before closing time. We both had a lack of sleep and were too exhausted to celebrate, but I was dancing in joy internally.
My Journal - Day one: Kimo and I rise at 4.00 AM and pick up our model Rebecca at a gas station. An 1800 km road trip awaits us. From Stavern to Verdal the drive is 12-hours. We arrived at the hotel in Verdal and got to bed early.
My Journal - Day two: We started the drive from Verdal to Mortenhals, which took us 18-hours. On the way, we observed how the snow were getting higher and the temperature getting lower. Only by watching from the car window, we saw all kinds of wild animal life revealing itself. A moose escorting her child, one fox crossing the road, and a herd of reindeer looking for pasture.
My Journal - Day three: We arrived at the campsite in Mortenhals, where we met the rest of the mushing crew and got to know our guides, Astrid and Quentin. We had a lot of time to do the preparation needed, before the first day of the shoot. So we did a brief location scouting around the area, discussing the limits of the shoot, and went through a dogsledding course.
My Journal - Day four: The First Dogsledding Trip. We all gathered outside the main building. Our guide Quentin, tells us about a big obstacle that may arise in the journey. He has already made fresh tracks for the dogs to follow a path, but the uphill is super sharp and the snowmobile can`t carry all the gear in the first half. We took no risk. Our mushing crew of eight divided us up into three groups. Quentin goes by snowmobile, with Rebecca following behind by dogsled. Astrid takes the lead with three of her students by one dogsled each. Kimo and I drive halfway up by car and meet the rest of the crew by a parking lot. There we relocated the camera equipment from the car to the back of the snowmobile cargo sled. Rest of the way we all traveled together by dogsled and snowmobile. Two hours later we arrived at the main snow meadow, where we were going to shoot for the whole day.
Within a short time, Rebecca learned the art of dogsledding. Which was a crucial part of this whole project. She was mastering the balance on the sled and keeping communication with the dogs. Kimo jumps on the back of the snowmobile with a fully prepared camera setup. Ready to capture the other-worldly beauty of the dogs galloping in slow-motion. The dogs were put in a formation, the tracks have been renewed once again and we start shooting. We had 30 dogs at our disposal, but not for long. So it was important to choose our time wisely. Most of the focus went to the huskies dragging the sled. When the time came for drone shooting, we switched from six to ten dogs on one sled. This many dogs on one sled were too high a risk for something to go wrong. As Astrid was the only one to have the ability and training to perform this kind of activity, she volunteered as a stunt-double. So Astrid and Rebecca switch jackets. We covered up the face-swap with a hoodie, hoping the motion was fast enough to not see any difference. After five hours of shooting, we wrapped up and returned to the campsite.
My Journal - Day five: Today's filming focused more on Rebecca, as she navigates with a compass on a map and packing provisions before the dogsledding trip. Filming Rebecca maintaining the dogsled and document the relation between her and the huskies, is just as important as filming them out in the field. The energetic and sparkling personality of each dog is just wonderful to witness. As they get put in front of a sled they howl and bark on top of their lungs in joy, until they get to sprint.
My Journal - Day six: We attempted to go out for a sailboat trip across the Mangalen Sea, But the water had recently frozen around the boat, making it unmoveable. The temperature is at -30°C/-22°F. While some of the sailors decided to chop a hole in the ice to go for a swim, Rebecca and I chose to start shooting inside the sailboat. We gradually progressed outwards and took advantage of the light. How Rebecca have managed to look so great in the intense cold for days is simply an amazement.
On the other side of the harbor, snowflakes looking like crystals were laying on top of the shiny reflective surface. I wanted to capture dynamic photos that revealed the complex layers embedded within the location. The lighting, the mood, and the essence of the place. As we began shooting. I really just followed Rebecca as she explored the area, but placed her strategically for compositional purposes. After some time with only normal modeling-posing, it became quite repetitive. So she randomly picked up floes and smashed them with her head, giving the term breaking the ice a totally different meaning. The spitting snow particles of the freezing winter only add to the already extreme cold of this arid depression. Again, Rebecca looks like she just walked out of an airconditioned dressing room, and the Arc`teryx pieces stand out brilliantly.
My Journal - Day seven: Today we are going to try something different- a photoshoot in the blizzard storm with artificial lighting. Rebecca stands tall and finds outer peace.
My Journal - Day eight: The last Dogsledding Trip. The main goal was to capture the sunset and complete the shootlist. This time we all traveled by dogsled, with the gear sorted out in every dogsled and the snowmobile cargo sled. After reaching the destination with few complications, we positioned ourselves in the center of the meadow surrounded by mountaintops. The view was incredible. Unfortunately, we didn't make it in time for the sunset. But in our favor, something much more extraordinary was about to appear. The evening shoot is intensely windy. The weather got ice cold and dry but we are able to capture striking night-shoots that blend the beauty of the scenery, the model and the Arc`teryx clothing from the new collection.
By the time we finished shooting at this location, we retreat to the campsite. On the way back, the wind got up to 25 m/s. We were dogsledding In the dark with only headlights to illuminate the tracks. Snow was hailing down at us and we got blown around, at times it was overpowering. To not fall over completely while steering the dogsled, we had to use all of our bodyweight to lean towards the wind to maintain the balance. This was definitively an adventure.
The violent storm got the snowmobile stuck uphill, which made the iron-bar holding the cargo sled to break apart. We were now two hours away from the campsite. Everyone had to push and Astrid attached six of the strongest huskies in front on the cargo sled. With alot of help from the dogs and after some struggle, we got the cargo loose. Then the guide attached multiple ropes from the snowmobile to the cargo sled as an emergency solution. As we continued the road we entered a whole other world, heaven flares up and starts dancing above. Northern lights shines bright and cover the sky in fluorescent turquoise, deep greens, and bright purple. Charged electrons cast from the sun bombard the earth's atmosphere. The energy turns into light and illuminates the magnetic lines that arc around the poles. Due to the oxygen and nitrogen atoms getting excited at different levels, the colors vary and create exotic colorations and topography.
We arrived back to the campsite where the team could enjoy a well-earned dinner and some sleep. The next day our guide tells us that he was preparing to have us immediately evacuate if a second blizzard event occurred. All the other mushers at the camp were shocked when they heard we have been dogsledding that night. This had really become an extreme photoshoot.
Arc`teryx has an identity as an adventurous brand; the movement and freedom of a dogsled in the vast landscape completes my vision for this advertising campaign; Outer Peace. It’s not just my vision- the whole team has taken ownership of this extreme and demanding drive to showcase the beauty of Norwegian- people, places, and fashion. Our guides Astrid and Quentin and their staff have given their all to keep us safe, well-fed, and well briefed. We all feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Throughout I have been thinking of my highly skilled friends, Kimo, who work tirelessly to produce beautiful cinematography and compositions. He is a master of light and has picked the times and techniques to create unparalleled videos. The video-clips are unreal. Rebecca, who has cheerfully endured grueling conditions which no other engagement could possibly compare to. This project has been accomplished in a way I still can’t entirely believe is real.
Client: Arc`teryx
Photography: Ludvik Baksaas
Model: Rebecca Volden
RO3 Drone operator and film edit: Kimo Enany
Guide and Stunt double: Astrid Elberg Thomsen
Fixer and snowmobile driver: Quentin Crahay
Production / Tour Company: Folkehøgskolen 69 grader Nord
Mushers: Jan Stamhuis, Sofie Koll Frafjord, and Ingebjørg Helene
Dogsled Assistants: Martine Lid Riis, Lilja Kristine Martinsen, and Mia Dahle
Sailboat team-leader: Solveig Haaland
Pulk team-leader: Bjørn Tore Nøkleby
Photography Post Processing: Ludvik and Kimo