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Repicturing Homelessness

Getty Images, fifty-fifty

Issue 47 | June 2018

Agency

Havas Dusseldorf

Creative Team

CCO Germany Eric Schoeffler CCO Du¨sseldorf Darren Richardson Creative Director Juan Leguizamon Copywriters Nian He, Ramon Scheffer Art Director Tiago Beltrame

Production Team

Digital Platform Digital Creative Director Guido Eichhoff Digital Conceptor Erik Teichert Junior Digital Art Director Adrian Warren Final Artwork Peter Holzportz, David Ochsenknecht, Jonas Boamah Studio 6 Producer Julian Dormis Photographer Frank Schemmann

Other Credits

Management Supervisor Daniel Grube Senior Account Manager Anna Berg

Date

March 2018

Background

fifty-fifty is a street magazine in Du¨sseldorf, which is sold by homeless people in order to raise the funds they need not just for sheltered housing but for rehabilitation.

One of the many problems the homeless suffer is that they are frequently perceived to be desperate and beyond help, which is often simply not the case.

Idea

Getty Images and fifty-fifty partnered in a project that changed the way people see the homeless by taking them off the streets and photographing them as models for some of the most saleable themes that Getty Images offers, such as businessman, cook, shopkeeper and traveller.

All the stock photos are available for purchase and 100% of the royalties go to fifty-fifty to support their work. The positive images show how easy it can be for homeless people to rediscover stability and meaning in their lives. All they need is a bit of help and compassion.

One of the models was Karl-Heinz Josef Hense, 56 years old, who has been homeless for 25 years. He said, “I feel like a new man. It was a real pleasure for me to participate. Really.”

The partners hope to expand the initiative over time to generate further awareness around the homeless community.

Results

Unknown

Our Thoughts

The key to this idea is in the little quip from Karl-Heinz. Having make-up artists fuss around him, a wardrobe department try different suits on him, this must have been more than just a reminder of how different his life could have been, it would have been fun.

Just look at the three photos of Michael. The look of pain in the first image; the look of joy in the second as he transforms; the look of a traveller in the third, an image people might pay for.

Instead of asking for sympathy, this marvelous campaign asks for empathy. Not the same. You look at the photos (and the film is a powerful piece of communication too) and realise not just how paper-thin the barrier is between success and failure in life but how easy redemption can be – with help.