Better late than never… We’ve just finished post-production on Penhaligon’s Chinese New Year 2027 campaign, so it’s probably about time I posted about the 2026 one!
I was thrilled when Penhaligon’s first approached me. The brief was all about luxury; highly polished lighting and a minimalist aesthetic to make the bottle sing. My style these days leans a little more organic, but I still love being precise with my lighting and crafting something beautiful, so I couldn’t wait to get stuck in.
The challenge was scale. We were shooting both stills and video, with a large number of assets to create in just two days. The budget wasn’t huge either, so to make it work we used all of my own kit, including my MOCO. The MOCO is now affectionately named Johnny 5, the robot from Short Circuit, for anyone who missed the 80s.
The first call was to keep props and styling to a minimum. Anything more and that volume simply wouldn’t have been possible, and it suited the brief anyway. Less clutter, more bottle.
Lighting-wise, we had to go big. We were shooting with a probe lens, and with that lens you need to be at around T16, so lots of powerful light is a necessity. Using constant lights for the stills as well meant I could jump in and out quickly to grab the video elements we needed. OK, “jump” is a bit generous. Johnny 5 is a proper beast and doesn’t go anywhere in a hurry, but programming his moves is quick, and that’s what made it all possible.
Two days is no time at all, which is where working with a crew who really knows me and how I work is invaluable. We’ve built up a shared visual language, so everyone knows exactly what the other is thinking, often before anyone’s said a word.
In the edit, sound played an integral role. It helped craft a world for the video to live in and gave the visuals an atmosphere they wouldn’t have had on their own.
And then the best bit; seeing it out in the wild. The video and photography were plastered all over China, on some of the biggest screens I have ever seen. There was even a tram fully covered in one of our hero shots, which looked amazing. I’ve seen a few images of it all, but sadly don’t have any to share… so you’ll just have to take my word for it.
Thankfully, the behind the scenes was better documented. Big thanks to Sebastian Hughes for taking some great BTS photos, as I never usually have time myself. Which also explains the poorly put together BTS video.
Really happy with how this one turned out. Huge thanks to a wonderful team, and to Penhaligon’s for trusting me with their vision, and then coming back to do it all again.
