Conservation Project With Johny Dar
As a result of our mutual passion for conservation, April marked the launch of a collaboration between myself and the renowned American designer and artist Johny Dar. In his most recent project “Jeans for Refugees,” Johny joined forces with 100 celebrities to raise funds for the International Rescue Committee supporting refugees worldwide. The concept was a great success and the work was exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery in London.
Johny’s career takes him around the world in a whirlwind of creative energy and passion. His last collection was shot by Rankin, so I am indeed flattered to have been asked to work with him on this project.
His central message for this campaign is that humans and animals sit side by side as tenants on this planet and there should be no sense of species sovereignty. We want to convey this pictorially by imagery that suggest a fusion and a sense of togetherness. The animals will never be de emphasised in the images, but rather humans and mammals will be captured in harmony. Johny’s body painting will be integral to each image we release.
For practical reasons, this work will sometimes involve animals that are comfortable with human presence, but this is an art project, not a national geographic project. It is the hope that material sums of money – for this non-profit project – can be raised for animal conservation throughout the world.
My first assignment with Johny was a collaboration with Eugenia Kuzmina – the LA based actress and model. Eugenia is a strong voice in conservation herself and we look forward to working with her again. She showed remarkable professionalism and fortitude on the shoot in Big Timber, Montana.
