Recently, ad agency Concept 73 hired commercial photographer Tim Tadder to shoot a spaceman-themed ad campaign for the international Consumer Electronics Show (CES).  The client wanted four main images to be used in a print campaign and on digital billboard displays in Las Vegas during the week of the show, and 25 additional images of the spaceman wandering around Las Vegas and the desert to be used for social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc). Instead of creating a narrative with the series, the client asked for “complete randomness.”

Tadder, who’s won numerous awards for outrageous and powerful images he’s created for global brands, was up for the challenge. All of these images were created in two days – one day in the studio and one on location. Using Google Earth and stock photo research, Tadder brainstormed ideas for landscapes that could stand in for the moon’s surface. “I found the the Valley of the Fire State park and knew that it gave me the moon-like service to use in the post production, Tadder told PDN via email. “We Google Earthed it and headed out there. We traveled light with just one assistant, who became the spaceman, and a wardrobe stylist, Shannon Amos, who was in charge of the spacesuit.” Tadder photographed the tiger (slide 1), owl (slide 7) and the house cat (slide 6) in the studio; they were later composited into the location images.

PDN asked Tadder if shooting  with a spaceman resulted in any funny stories. Tadder replied, “We were stopped by a State Trooper in the middle of the desert while the spaceman was walking down the road. He asked us if we were making an ‘art’ project, otherwise he’d have to write us up. It was a little too random for the trooper to digest, and besides, I think he got a kick out of it.”