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This was an exiting shoot! We went to the ice hotel in Kiruna (above the polar circle) in the dead of winter. Although for Swedish standards winter (late November) was not there yet and we had to recreate the hotel in their storage. In min 15 degrees Celcius (5 Fahrenheit) they store the ice from February that year which was harvested from the adjescend lake. Square meter blocks of ice were stacked high on top of each other. Like a warehouse. Waiting to be used for a newly designed ice hotel in the next winter. Ice artists recreated a homely environment for us according our brief. One of the challenges was to keep the camera shutter working in the freezing cold. 2 Nights prior to the shoot we did put all camera equipment in a freezer to test it. In the end we used a blow dryer to keep the shutter going.

UPC is a cable company with a stormy past. Very target driven. This campaign was aimed at acquiring more customers befor the upcoming winter season. People tend to stay at home more and make more use of telephone, internet and tv. This was an offer that combined all 3 elements. One can imagine there was a lot of talk with UPC about the ‘warmth’ of the images beforehand.

Come. The winter.

Photographer: Jaap Vliegenthart
Styling: Marjolein Vonk
Retouche: Souverein
Pre-press: Edge Premedia