Macy’s is a long-time client of James Salzano, but he recently got an assignment that was a little bit different. Jim usually shoots video in tandem with stills for a whole variety of campaigns. The Workshop at Macy’s is a business development program launched in 2011 to give select high potential minority and female business owners the tools to better succeed and sustain growth in the retail industry. James was asked to shoot four print ads in Macy’s 150,000-square-foot studio in Long Island City.

“Macy’s asked if I could come out to their factory building to see if it would work. They have an entire floor with offices, lounges and studios. I thought, ‘Where would we ever find anything this good all on one floor.’ It was a fantastic opportunity,” said Jim.

Beyond shooting four images in a particular location, there weren’t a whole lot of parameters.

“They wanted the images to be bright and airy and look like work environments. We had to build each set. The shot with the pottery, we brought all of that in. ‘Think bigger’ and ‘Dare to plan’ were shot in the same space; we just redressed it. We started with the more complicated shots, saving the easier ones for the end of the day,” Jim explained.

They were able to shoot all four images in a single day thanks to the support of two different teams—one working on set and another prepping the next shot.

“The images are so simple, but there was a lot of prepping done on each environment. The creative team wanted it to look like we just walked into an actual existing work space, but they were all fabricated with props. It really was an effort to get those different, natural looks.”

Jim typically works directly with Macy’s, which has its own in-house creative team.

“It’s always fun to work with Macy’s; they have such a wonderful energy. I just finished a video piece with 19 employees from around the world. It was great to hear how much everyone loves the company and they’re so committed to what they do—that kind of passion is always nice to be around. The magic of Macy’s, it really comes though.” said Jim.

A very special thank you to Michele, Rick and Joe for the opportunity and continued collaboration.