Chain
reaction

BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF PHOTOGRAPHERS FOR CANON

Featured

Client:
Canon

Product:
EOS Cameras

Medium:
Digital
Integrated

Hats worn:
Creative
Design and UX

At some point, every novice photographer will ask themselves the same question: “where do I start?”

 

If you're a beginner photographer, stepping up to your first serious camera can be a little daunting. But when you start taking your first creative photos, the most intimidating thing isn’t all the buttons and dials, the light metering and f-stops. It’s a simple question - what exactly am I supposed to shoot? 

We decided that the best thing we could do was make it easy - and even fun - for novice photographers to jump in and just get started. All they really needed was a place to begin. So what if we could get them to pick a starting place for each other?
 
That 'what if' became  Photochains.

The idea was simple. A photographer starts the chain with an image, and tags a feature of that image using a single word. It could be a colour. A feature. A mood. Whatever it is, that one word becomes the inspiration for the next photo in the chain. The photographer picks out another detail, which then becomes the inspiration for someone else. 

And when viewers look back across the chain, they can follow the thread of inspiration, from image to image.

Photochains Case Study

Photochains went on to win the media Grand Prix at Cannes, as well as 5 other lions. But the true test of any platform isn't the accolades it's earned, but rather how its used. And this platform that started life as a one-off campaign promoting a camera kept going strong for another six years.

 

What's even more fascinating is the fact that the site remained active without external promotion, with each individual chain kept alive by its contributors - each one a tiny micro-community of photographers who have never met in the real world, and who shared nothing more than inspiration. But when you start taking creative photos, and you're looking for somewhere to start - what else do you need?

Awards

  • Grand Prix - Cannes Lions - Media

  • Gold - Cannes Lions - Direct

  • Silver - Cannes Lions - Direct

  • Silver - Cannes Lions - Promotion

  • Silver - Cannes Lions - PR

  • Bronze - Cannes Lions - Direct

  • Grand Prix - Spikes Asia - Direct

  • Gold - Spikes Asia - Direct (2)

  • Silver - Spikes Asia - Media

  • Silver - Spikes Asia - Integrated

  • Bronze - Spikes Asia - Media

  • Bronze - Spikes Asia - Digital