When Strong Photographs Make Strong Advertisements

Although the New York City Marathon has run it’s course throughout the five boroughs, the advertisements for it still remain, which to my benefit, was still fortunate to catch a glimpse of when entering the 59^th Street Columbus Circle subway station last Sunday.

(Images shot with Olympus E-PL2 14-42mm lens.)

I was struck by the collage you see above due to the combination of Gatorade cups, water bottles, energy bars, and running shoes (a photography project I’m working on currently during my free time) because they utilized all of the material waste that fuels the support of the runners. They even had a billboard of the number of consumables used in the marathon: 2.3 million drink cups, 67,995 gallons of water, 57,079 salt tablets, and so forth.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find the artist name anywhere to properly give credit during this post, but from the looks of the area, this seems to be the epicenter of advertising for ASCIS (a running show manufacture) in relation to the marathon in Manhattan. Nevertheless, this centerpiece is an attractive lead-in to a stretching hallway large bold text advertisements, with more importantly, striking images that inspire the meaning of the NYC Marathon.

With deep focus on individual runners (possibly from last year’s marathon) this advertising team has been able to sort through the masses that the average spectator may see on TV and provide a unique story that is universally applied to every runner. My particular favorite the image of the old man with the large beard running.

I guess the reason why this campaign appeals to me so is due to the photojournalism  style I get from it. These are the images I strive to capture, and seeing photo dominant ads such as these on full display only inspires me to shoot better for the day when my work will be on display in such a manner.

Edit: ASICS  has a description about their Columbus Circle  experience on their website: http://www.asicsamerica.com/nycm/columbus_circle.aspx.