Towards the end of 2023 The Goodwash Company approached me for their Christmas campaign. It’d been in talks for a while, but it was finally go time.
This time it was different, the concept of the campaign was headed by members of Saatchi & Saatchi.
The brief, Bringing The Outside In.
To celebrate the change in season and give a nod to the festive tradition of festooning our homes.
Now if you know me, you’ll know I struggle with Christmas. I say struggle, I fuckin hate it.
Every year the “festive season” seems to start earlier with Mariah Carey on the radio and bright red boerboels’ hanging from anything with an edge.
Call me a scrooge, but I cant deny that the whole thing never sits right with me, it feels too forced.
Christmas to me is about family, more specifically, my family. Time spent as a child laying on my grandparents living room floor just listening to the adults talk. It was always peaceful, no rowdiness, no stress, no arguing. Just plenty of food and something on the tele as background noise. Throw in a dog walk and maybe a few games and I’d be wildly happy. The nostalgia of being a kid surrounded by family and feeling warm and safe.
This isn’t a thing for me anymore, I’ve had to accept I’ll never experience anything like that since my Dad and Grandad passed.
So with all that said, I wanted to create a story that went against everything Christmas is expected to be. As an act of solitude for those who feel the same as me. No cashmere jumpers, no abundant gift piles, no shiny boerboels’ and no expected “standard”.
I wanted to focus on what matters to me. Those I love, slowing down, being grateful to spend a small moment of time with one another. To celebrate making your own traditions. To enjoy what you can and just look after yourself.
Cue Spot & Charlie, two close friends of Goodwash.
Nestled amongst the trees, a stones throw away from Cardigan, they are the responsible for the secluded getaways and art gallery that fall under the name Sea & Slate.
They would be our models for this campaign. And boy were we lucky to have such warm hearted beauts to photograph.
Enjoy
A x
