By Jacqueline Tobin

Carhartt is a family-owned company that has always been known for its sturdy work clothes—think overalls and coveralls worn by railroad workers—made with a variety of durable materials resistant to flames, abrasion and water. Now the company is marketing to a broader clientele, says in house art director Ernie Everly. “We’ve had little if any shots of people off the job. We wanted images that our retailers could put up on their walls showing people doing things other than slinging iron. We wanted to go beyond our usual 9-5 concept.” Their new ad campaign, explains Everly, had to be  a foray into showing their clothes in use in fun, outdoor activities.

Photographer Jason Lindsey, of Champaign/ Urbana, Illinois, landed the assignment of helping the 120-year-old company branch out. “The shoot basically consisted of 1 photographer, 4 shoot days, 5 homeowners, 11 crew members, 12 production days, 14 models, 2 broken taillights, 16 cans of bug spray, and 1 crazy stylist,” he says.

Lindsey shot four scenarios with lots of subsets for each main concept:
There’s the young couple hiking/camping/kayaking weekend; a family at a weekend cabin in the woods, a young couple taking on a do-it-yourself home project; and a guys weekend camping/fishing trip. In each setting, Lindsey says, he photographed the subjects doing things like setting up a tent, loading a kayak on the car. The models actually went kayaking; he spent most of that afternoon in an inner tube on a lake, camera at the ready. “We had the broad ideas first and then developed a shot list of different things we could do on that day but we also tried to have the talent do other related stuff without giving them direction. It was all about creating real moments.”

Everly says most of the images are currently running as part of in-store and e-commerce campaigns.