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Simon Lister is passionate about photography and has managed to capture touching realities first hand, which deserve to be told through his visual narration. In 2018, he appeared in the original Netflix series co produced by Canon Australia, “Tales by Light”, in which he documented the lives of some of the most vulnerable children of the Cerro Rico mines in Potosí, Bolivia, and Bangladesh o as he defines it, "India on steroids".

THE GLOBAL LANGUAGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY WITH SIMON LISTER.

SIMON LISTER'S WORK REALLY MAKES YOU THINK. A NATIVE OF NEW ZEALAND, HIS CREATIVE CAREER LED HIM TO SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA WHERE HE FOUNDED THE ACCLAIMED NYLON STUDIOS. BUT HIS PASSIONS FOR MOTORBIKES AND PHOTOGRAPHY HAVE SINCE TAKEN HIM TO DIFFERENT WORLD'S ALTOGETHER. HIS PORTRAITS FROM REGIONS LIKE INDIA AND BOLIVIA INSPIRED UNICEF'S MOST ELABORATE GLOBAL CAMPAIGN, WITH HIS REMARKABLE JOURNEYS FEATURED IN NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES 'TALES BY LIGHT' AND THE UNITED NATIONS. WE SPOKE WITH SIMON ABOUT CREATIVE LIFE IN SYDNEY AND THE INSPIRING HUMAN SPIRIT HE HAS MET IN SOME OF THE WORLD'S HARSHEST PLACES.

SIMON LISTER TALES OF LIGHT: “NOTHING CAN SPEAK TO PEOPLE MORE THAN A POWERFUL PHOTOGRAPH”

Not refugee children. Not migrant children. They’re #childrenfirst. Let’s #IMAGINE a world where ALL children have the same rights and opportunities. Together, we can give a fair chance #foreverychild.

Footage of children I have filmed in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea

Zwierciadło 6/2019

ANNA BEREZA
Fotoedytor

https://zwierciadlo.pl/

UNICEF at 70: A New Campaign Shows How UNICEF is Giving Children Hope

Marcel Sydney’s Holly Alexander and director Simon Lister on a huge rebrand and meeting the children whose childhoods have been protected

This week in New York, UNICEF unveiled a huge creative rebrand, a stirring new hero film and a new archive of hundreds of photographs of children whose lives have been changed thanks to the organisation. The theme of this new work is hope and it shows children living life to the fullest despite living in difficult environments, reinforcing the positive change that UNICEF has enacted around the world. This isn’t about manipulative ‘sadvertising’ – it’s about the important and life-changing projects that the organisation is involved with.

Behind this global campaign is some of Australia’s leading creative talent. The team at Marcel Sydney led the rebrand and the film and library of stills were shot by Simon Lister (who you may also know as the Creative Director of Nylon Studios). Simon travelled to Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam, Lebanon, Ethiopia and Mexico with UNICEF’s Angus Ingham, and over the course of five weeks they visited schools, hospitals and villages to meet children whose precious childhoods had been protected.

LBB’s Laura Swinton spoke to Marcel Sydney’s head of production Holly Alexander and director Simon Lister to find out more about this inspiring project.

LBB> What was the brief from Unicef?

Holly> To say this one was a complicated brief would be an understatement (even though the ultimate answer appears very simple!). Externally, UNICEF is involved in children's welfare in over 190 countries. To create a message genuinely relevant and purposeful to a myriad of cultures and applicable to so many applications was daunting. We were aided by a fantastically well informed (and patient) client that helped us navigate the layers of global stakeholders who had to embrace and endorse our campaign. From the outset, it was made abundantly clear that this campaign is for the long run. It has to make as much sense in a decade as it does today. 

LBB> In terms of the rebrand, what was the key driving force behind it? And what message or ideas were Unicef keen to get across? What sort of research and planning did you do?

Holly> It would be easy to assume that with a project of this scale we did months of research and planning but the reality is that Unicef is an organisation that needs to react very quickly, so the same thing was true for our production. We had itineraries changing right up to the day Simon flew. While he was in the field shooting, different field locations would open up and fortunately Simon was working very nimbly so he was able to react quickly. All guided by the expert field teams. 

For me the real beauty of this project was the ‘found’ element. Typically we would recce locations, cast characters and faces, spend time art directing the frame. With this project there was none of that in the sense that Simon would arrive at locations and meet people for the first time and film them. It is a testament both to the incredible locations and people he came across as he travelled and to Simon’s ability to find the extraordinary in what others would see as the ordinary. It takes a special kind of person to see that.

LBB> This is a project with a global reach and one that has to engage with people of all cultures – did that present any interesting challenges?

Holly> There were many interesting challenges on this project for sure, but what was always paramount to us, Simon and, of course, to the incredible Unicef teams that Simon travelled with, was to film the children and their families in a respectful way – in a way that honoured them. That’s how our film manages to transcend cultures, borders, differences. It is impossible to watch our film and not feel inspired by the joy and spirit in the faces of the children, even at the same time as you recognise the unbelievable hardships they have to endure.

LBB> What did Simon bring to the final project?

Holly> In a word, heart. To meet Simon is to understand that there honestly wasn’t a better person for the job. There isn’t a more generous, open, warm person than Simon and that was so important for this project for a bunch of reasons. These were really sensitive situations we were sending him into and he needed to be the kind of person the children opened up to, felt safe with. He was welcomed into their homes and their lives and so it was incredibly important that the filmmaker be someone that didn’t ‘intrude’. It’s how he managed to film such breath-taking footage. And the truth is our film is 90 seconds long but we have hours and hours of the most unbelievable film.

These kinds of projects are also true labours of love – they often involve super long schedules (we have been working on this project since April), the budgets are difficult, the material is sometimes fraught, so we were thankful that Simon was so committed. Unwaveringly so.

And then of course his cinematography. My answer won’t do it justice but to think he was literally a one-man band with a backpack and a camera, and then to look at what he captured, we should all be so lucky as to have some of his talent.

LBB> Simon, how did you get involved in the project?

Simon> This has been my first commissioned project by a client, but for the past 10 years I’ve been going off around the world to take pictures. It’s about exploring different places, going into slums and taking pictures of people in their environment. I’ve been all through India, the Himalayas, the Sahara Desert, Mexico, Mongolia. Last year I went to Bangladesh and I put a project together with Nobby [David Nobay, Marcel Sydney founder] for the ABC Art Breaks, and they showed that to the UNICEF guys, who he had a relationship with. They liked what they saw and they invited me to be involved in this project and shoot all the brand photographs and the TV commercials. 

We finished filming about six weeks ago. For Unicef we travelled to Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam, Lebanon, Ethiopia and Mexico. From that I was also asked to contribute to their photo library that their 193 offices can use for all their marketing and social media, posters and billboards. Marcel produced the campaign.

LBB> What was the production like?

Simon> I took all the photos myself and filmed everything myself – we had no crew. We had a film camera, a stills camera, a drone and a 360 camera as well. The days would start at 5.30am and we’d shoot till about 6pm and then we’d spend the evening downloading and recharging, getting everything ready for the next day. We did that every day for five weeks.

LBB> So this is very much a passion thing for you – how does that fit around your ‘day job’ running Nylon Studios?

Simon> This is what I do as a hobbie, it’s a passion job. I’ve got my business, Nylon Studios, and it’s going strong. I’ve had that for about 15 years.

But I just love taking portraits of people in any situation. I’ve been to slums, I’ve filmed on top of a train going through Dakar, I’ve shot in rubbish tips and all sorts of full-on situations. And I love meeting the people; they have so little but they have so much in the way of life. It’s not about things like cars and houses, it’s purely about the person and be-friending them. That’s what engages me to do these kinds of trips. And the harder to get to the better! I love having to get to places off-road on my motorbike and really explore what this wonderful world has to offer us. 

LBB> The theme of the film and the rebrand is hope, which is an optimistic and inspiring message. Why was that important to capture, rather than, say, the traditional 'sadvertising' approach?

Holly> That’s an interesting question and one that I was talking about at the launch with a few people. I think people are desensitised these days to the ‘sadvertising’ approach – we see it every day on our computers, our phones. We are constantly manipulated by it. But that really wasn’t the reason we didn’t go down that route. These are incredibly proud, strong, hopeful people. In spite of their hardships, I think we managed to film them in a way that shows their true spirits and how incredibly resilient they are. It wouldn’t have done them justice to film them any other way.

Simon> Something that’s really evident is that UNICEF are really doing things to make a change. We went to a Syrian refugee camp and you’d walk into these tents and there would be 50 children there all studying. They were all engaging in education like they would be at home, even though they were displaced and not in their home environment. I know they are living in difficult circumstances, but you could see that Unicef was really spending some great money and really helping them.

We didn’t want to show children with flies on their faces, suffering in hospitals. We wanted to show children around the world happy, living life as best they can whatever their environment. We wanted to reach images that go straight to your heart. Rather than being manipulative.

What was great as well was that the Unicef staff were very emotional when they saw the images and film. They’re not doing this for the money, they don’t get paid much, they’re doing this purely out of compassion for children. For them to be so emotionally affected by this stuff meant it was going to their heart. 

LBB> There's been a huge global launch in New York this week – what was that like?

Holly> Inspiring and humbling. It wasn’t without its star factor – we had David Beckham, Orlando Bloom, Jackie Chan, Millie Bobbi Brown, Angélique Kidjo all speak on the night, which of course was cool. But the really mind blowing part of the night was to hear from the people whose lives UNICEF has saved. From former child soldiers, to young women living with HIV who were shunned from their villages and families, to small boys who walked from Syria to Germany, through Greece. To be honest, coming into this project, I had had limited experience with UNICEF and now knowing more about what they do with children around the world, I feel like I will work with them in some capacity for the rest of my life. 

Simon> It’s an amazing thing to be part of and to see my photos up at the event was amazing. We’ve managed to give them a lovely library and we’re talking about our next project together for next year. Nylon is my bread and butter and it’s a very important wheel I’ve got to keep turning. But this is my passion work and I’m lucky enough to be in a situation to do that.

LBB> And what were the residing memories of the production

Holly> Just how grateful and hopeful we should be. It is such a cynical world we live in, particularly in advertising. But at the risk of sounding sappy, it’s projects like this one that throw what we do into perspective. Last night there were a lot of people thanking us for the film but honestly I feel like I owe UNICEF the thanks. What an honour to be brought into the fold. And what a fold it is.

Nylon Studios' Simon Lister showcases diverse talents for launch of UNICEF's global rebrand

Thursday 15, December 2016 at 9:54 AM by Ricki

Last night in New York City, UNICEF launched its first rebrand in over a decade with a striking brand film, shot and directed by Nylon Studios' co-owner and creative director, Simon Lister. The campaign features the voices of Liam Neeson, Jackie Chan and Shakira, with singing from world-renowned musician, Lisa Gerrard - but the film's real stars are the faces of the children that UNICEF helps to aid and protect.

Lister is best known in the industry as one of Australia's top sound engineers and co-founder of Nylon Studios. His passion for sound and music has created a powerful pairing with his amazing images as they are accompanied by Nylon composer Jesse Watt's evocative composition. Collaborating between its New York and Sydney studios, Nylon also created the Sound Design for the campaign.

Says Lister: "To be able to have my photos represent such an incredible and iconic brand is immensely satisfying. I think most of us would hope that at some stage of our career we can somehow use our craft to be able to make a meaningful contribution to the world we live in."

Created by Marcel Sydney's founder and creative chairman, David Nobay and produced by Holly Alexander, the brand campaign has since been shared online by the likes of David Beckham and other UN ambassadors reaching over 3.5 million people worldwide. Nobay brought Lister onto the project after their initial collaboration on the ABC Artbreaks caught the eye of UNICEF's chief of brand building, David Ohana.

Says Ohana: "Through this re-branding, our goal is to convey, in a powerful and distinctive way, what UNICEF stands for, in everything we do, in every country we work, in a way that is relevant to our audiences. It has been a pleasure to work with David Nobay, Simon Lister and the team on this truly global collaboration."

What started as a passionate hobby, many years ago, has now become an opportunity for Lister's stunningly visceral photography to bring awareness to The United Nations' Children's Fund and its cause. Over the span of 2 months, Lister travelled with just a small UNICEF team to film children from developing countries, such as Vietnam, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon and Mexico. The footage was brought back to Sydney and pieced together with the incredible care and support of Heckler's Will Alexander, Andrew Holmes and Ali Kennedy.

Lister and his team hope their efforts help UNICEF to raise awareness and much needed funds #foreverychild.

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Cover for "The State of the Worlds Children 2016"

A fair chance for every child

photo taken in Papua New Guinea

In March 2013, Coca-Cola set out to break down barriers and create a simple moment of connection between two nations – India and Pakistan. The initiative ‘Small World Machines’ provided a live communications portal between people in India and Pakistan and showed that what unites us is stronger than what sets us apart. The key to engaging with each other through the machines was simple: people in India and Pakistan could complete a task, like touching hands, drawing peace, love, and happiness symbols – together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts_4vOUDImE

The photo of the Albino girl that I took in Papua New Guinea December 2012 was displayed in National Geographic magazine June 2013 edition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1xkXZs0cAQ&t=16s

Founded in 1946 to provide life-saving support to the most vulnerable children in the aftermath of World War 2. Seventy years on, and our mission is no less urgent. Nearly 250 million children are growing up in countries affected by conflict and nearly 50 million children have been uprooted from their homes. We are the world’s largest children’s organization, working with partners in 190 countries. We will do whatever it takes to protect children. Wherever they are. Whoever they are. Whenever they need us. And now, more than ever. #foreverychild, hope. Learn more here: https://www.unicef.org/

Sharing my adventures of off-road motorbiking through the Sahara and the High Atlas mountains, riding motorbikes around Rajasthan and the Himalayas India. Filming a documentary in New York and canoeing around the islands of Papua New Guinea.

A vast nation, home to the world’s second largest population, India is a broad canvas on which life is drawn in vivid, colourful strokes.

These photos and accompanying vignettes come courtesy of adventure travel photographer Simon Lister.

The first arresting image you see fills this entire page. Behind the eyes of this older man, who Simon met in the Thar Desert in the state of Rajasthan, is hidden pain. One of his legs was badly broken and lacking the money for proper medical care he endured his injuries with quiet dignity. The boy in the uppermost picture was sitting in a small fishing village just outside Mumbai. Simon’s lens clicked at the perfect moment and the boy’s piercing eyes stare straight back at the viewer. Pictured in the centre is a crowded night scene in the city of Udaipur. And the final photo was taken in an automotive junkyard. Here, every piece of a vehicle is collected and recycled. And in the middle of this grime-covered industrial wasteland, a beautiful face peered out at Simon. And these faces tell just four of India’s 1.2 billion stories.

Front cover of issue 115 for Travel weekly

I Am was a Photographic Exhibition to showcase my collection of portraits of people I have shot on my journeys over the past five years,Rajasthan, Himalayas, Morocco, Africa