All In the Details: Kremer/Johnson's Artistic Approach to Still Life for Progressive

Kremer/Johnson's project with Progressive Insurance marks a distinct departure from their usual playful and narrative-driven work. Known for their comedic and character-rich imagery, the duo embraced a new challenge with this motorcycle parts campaign, designed to promote Progressive's motorcycle insurance. The ask was clear: create visually striking close-ups of specific wear-and-tear on various motorcycle components such as hand grips, seats, and foot pegs. These details needed to resonate deeply with seasoned riders, evoking a sense of authenticity and connection to the riding experience.

While the project required a shift in creative focus, Neil and Cory approached it with the same thoughtful consideration they apply to all of their work. They collaborated with LA-based Glory Motorworks to source and prepare the bikes, ensuring that the components chosen would tell a compelling visual story.

What did the creative brief look like and how did you bring your iconic Kremer/Johnson style to the shoot?

The client initially reached out to us to create two campaigns simultaneously.  One was this motorcycle parts campaign, and the other was a super fun & creative portrait campaign.  The portrait campaign ended up getting postponed, and they asked us to continue moving forward with the parts campaign. The closeup style of the photography was dictated by the agency's creative deck. Their concept was well-developed when they brought it to us so we executed it per their vision concerning framing, but our goal was to elevate it with our lighting style.

Can you please explain your approach to the set design and bike selection?

The agency had specific types of bikes they wanted to shoot, so we worked with our motorcycle guys here in LA, Glory Motorworks, to procure and prep all the bikes. They've worked on several Progressive campaigns in the past and have a great understanding of what the client is looking for. Glory pulled a collection of bikes for us, then Neil and I had discussions with the creatives about which bikes might best tell the story in each image.

How does the style of this shoot compare with your other work?

Though a series of still-life images might seem like a big step outside of our comfort zone, it's really just an extension of it.  We approached it in much the same manner that we approach creating a compelling portrait.  It's all about using light to showcase what you want the viewer to focus on.  Then, from there, you walk them through the rest of the image via an interplay between shadow and highlight.

What were some challenges of the shoot?

There were a lot of moving parts to this campaign in the run-up to it.  In fact, this campaign was initially meant to be a bit of a side note to a portrait campaign that we were also tapped to shoot for them. In the weeks leading up to the shoot, the portrait campaign got postponed & sent back to creative for some retooling, leaving just this motorcycle parts campaign for us to shoot.  To facilitate that without wasting a lot of the client's money on aspects of the portrait shoot that we no longer needed, we had to do a lot of production juggling. We'd already booked this giant studio along with a pretty large crew and quite a lot of equipment - most of which was needed only to execute the portrait campaign.  Though we'd already had a signed contract & agreed-upon budget, we really wanted to make sure that they weren't spending unnecessary money if at all possible. That meant a lot of renegotiating deals with our vendors & shifting things around a bit wherever we could.

On set, the challenge was to photograph these typically mundane motorcycle parts in a way that was both visually interesting & told a compelling story that connected to experienced motorcycle riders.  We chose to do that by creating footpegs, seat, hand grips, etc with extremely specific wear-and-tear on them. Things like a footpeg with a ground-down end that any rider would recognize as something that happens from repeated turns.  We created all these effects practically, in studio with our art department. It took a lot of grinding, sanding, stitching, and even some blow torching to make those parts look they way we wanted to.

Once we had the parts looking good, we chose to use a particularly dramatic style of light that we might typically use for portraiture.  We really highlighted the components of the bike that we wanted to showcase while letting the rest of the bike fall off a bit, guiding the viewers' eyes to the crux of the visual story.

What were some highlights of the shoot?

I think the real highlight for us was that the client trusted us to do something that we didn't really have already represented in our portfolio. We've shot still life before - mostly as tests or personal shoots - but we never really shared that work. To hire a photographer when they're not known as specifically a "still life photographer" is a big leap, and that trust meant so much.