Sesse Lind: The Path Less Travelled Offers Photos Most Desirable

Canon Inc. expects their annual sales to exceed 201.0 Billion Yen this year. While their product lines are numerous, the first thing the world thinks of when hearing the name Canon is cameras. With nearly a century as one of the most respected and recognized names, Canon’s stability is built upon professional photographers and those who aspire to capturing images like the most accomplished of these, experts like Sesse Lind. Together with a Canon lens technician and a visionary art director, Lind spent four days in 2010 traveling to four locations around Europe and shoot still images with 8-10 different lenses that would work in four separate mosaics. The rapid pace certainly prohibited much sleeping in those four days but as Sesse remarks, “Considering the number of photographers in the world that Canon could have chosen to work with, I find it an honor to have been chosen for this. I have a deep sense of accomplishment considering the very advanced nature of this project and the fact that they were confident in my ability to make it work.”Canon Inc. expects their annual sales to exceed $45 Million this year. While their product lines are numerous, the first thing the world thinks of when hearing the name Canon is cameras. Nearing a century as one of the most respected and recognized names, Canon’s stability is built upon professional photographers and those who aspire to capturing images like the most accomplished of these, experts like Sesse Lind. Together with a Canon lens technician and a visionary art director, Lind had four days to travel to four locations around Europe and shoot still images with 8-10 different lenses that would work in four separate mosaics. The rapid pace certainly prohibited much sleeping in those four days but as Sesse remarks, “Considering the number of photographers in the world that Canon could have chosen to work with, I find it an honor to have been chosen for this. I have a deep sense of accomplishment considering the very advanced nature of this project and the fact that they were confident in my ability to make it work.”

Canon wanted to demonstrate the capabilities of their lenses in a diverse range of settings which included landscape, detailed nature, architecture, and adventure travel. There’s a difficult way to achieve this and an easy way in regards to travel. The decision was made to take advantage of the diversity offered by Switzerland and Spain in regards to eclectic locations using Lind as its representative “High Adventure Photographer.” To the north (Switzerland), a modern holiday setting in the Alps was the focus while Lake Geneva provided a water setting with grand landscapes and sports such as fishing. Barcelona (Spain) locations like the Tibidabo Amusement Park and the iconic “Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc” provided a different majestic opportunity. For his part, Mr. Lind had no concerns about capturing the perfect photos; it was another aspect upon which the project hinged. He relates, “The most challenging aspect was to in real time, with a digital image technician (DIT), create a landscape from macro wide angle and telescopic lens images, where each image had to be good and advanced enough to be a stand-alone image representing each lens.”Canon wanted to demonstrate the capabilities of their lenses in a diverse range of settings which included landscape, detailed nature, architecture, and adventure travel. There’s a difficult way to achieve this and an easy way in regards to travel. The decision was made to take advantage of the diversity offered by Switzerland and Spain in regards to eclectic locations using Lind as its representative “High Adventure Photographer.” To the north (Switzerland), a modern holiday setting in the Alps was the focus while Lake Geneva provided a water setting with grand landscapes and sports such as fishing. Barcelona (Spain) locations like the Tibidabo Amusement Park and the iconic “Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc” provided a different majestic opportunity. For his part, Mr. Lind had no concerns about capturing the perfect photos; it was another aspect upon which the project hinged. He relates, “The most challenging aspect was to in real time, with a digital image technician (DIT), create a landscape from macro wide angle and telescopic lens images, where each image had to be good and advanced enough to be a stand-alone image representing each lens.”

The campaign “Change Your Lenses, Change Your Story” was presented with these photos in a mosaic tapestry that notably communicates the expressive potential of the person behind the lens of the camera. The uniqueness of the artist’s perspective as well as the different lenses are capable of myriad interpretations of the same subject and setting. Of course, achieving this with photographs is both more powerful and more difficult to achieve. Grand vistas of the Alps and the open sea are challenged by those of a public pool and an evening carnival. Each individual image of the final mosaic “calls out” to a different emotion and most certainly a different creative approach. Capturing these images required Mr. Lind to immerse himself within the atmosphere whether that be on a small innertube or scaling up an incline to get the perfect view of the Alps. While he has become accustomed to physical dangers in his professional career, other factors elicit nervousness as Sesse confesses, “During this shoot, I found myself in a funny and extreme situation where I was floating in a small inflatable boat in a huge Olympic size pool with a very expensive lens which was worth thousands of dollars. I was shooting a swimmer diving off of the jump tower. It’s always nerve wracking when you have to operate cameras so close to water, especially when it’s not your camera and the shoot hangs on that specific lens. This situation was definitely not an exception. Everything for the art.” The images obtained by Sesse Lind for this Canon campaign are certainly most aptly described as art. They communicate the diversity of life and the benefits of experiencing it your own way. 

Writer: Coleman Haan