The images for SoundCloudâs campaign called âHear the worldâs soundsâ photographed by Anthony Georgis are vivid and have a spontaneous atmosphere. SoundCloud is the online audio distribution platform which you can share and listen to music. I believe that the main target audience is digital natives to digital immigrants ranging from teenagers to 30-somethings using the Internet as a tool of music player and communication on a daily basis. The images convey a sense of how cool and fun it is to be connected with companies which have same interests. The subjects look like they are enjoying the moment sharing music with their friends. What the campaign is trying to express is that, although it is online interface, you can share your impression, joy, and happiness through the music.
The images are taken at eye level, medium depth of field, uses red side-lit and back-lit and front-lit flash, with low key exposure. These settings produce a more lively and natural mood of the subjects.
I feel like these photographs are applied with the metaphor of both Windows and Mirrors. The reason of the Window is that the images looks kind of a documentary taste of looks rather than an intentional stage setting even though it actually is. The scene appears to be set in a dark inside space such as a music venue. Some subjects are looking at the camera and some are not. I got the impression that the photographer just cut out the moments of what are taken place there as these are. Â However, I also see some emotional direction which the photographer meant to represent. The dark background and those back-lit and sid-lit light makes those subject pop up and it shows their spontaneous facial expression naturally well. I think the campaign fully succeeded with the the technical directions to convincing the target audience that using SoundCloud promise that pleasant opportunities sharing your creations and favorite sounds with people all over the world.
Yoshiko, I completely agree with you in that this post is both a mirror and a window. The overall feel is meant to convey that this is a “journalistic” photo, but it’s obviously staged. I also think the campaign is very effective in capturing the look of its target audience. The images themselves are very eye-catching!
The description for the images shown in your post is on-point and I agree with your perception on how the photographer tried to capture sensation and moods for this particular campaign. In my opinion, the composition of every photo featured entitles the idea of unification through the stages of producing music and delivering it to your own medium, via Soundcloud where lovers of music are together as one community.
I had no idea from what you wrote that sound cloud is an online distribution space for people to share their original music. So the photos use a very common form of celebrity endorsement implying that if you use the product, you can hang out with the celebrity or in this case you could become the celebrity. The look of being in a club is beautifully reproduced down to the look of on camera flash. Since everything about these images is fake and the intent is to create a fantasy of the experience of using an online music service, I would say these are mirrors in the sense meant by Szarkowski.