Funky Dollar Bill

There are few things more satisfying than collaborating with an iconic brand on an advertising campaign. It’s like shooting with a big celebrity and then putting real money behind getting the message out!

This isn’t the first time that I’ve photographed an object as a persona, but it’s certainly not what I do most often. Nevertheless, combining my skills with conceptual photographs and my dry sense of humor, we jumped in feet first in bringing a dollar bill to life for Lyft.

Questions about the use of AI in commercial photography were not just subtext on this project. The ad agency used AI renderings to share the creative direction with us, and the quality was uncanny and a bit unsettling. The renderings were rich, detailed, and pretty great. Honestly, it did cross my mind, “Why are we actually shooting this?” But more importantly, would I get it close to matching this level of mood, balancing the main character with a powerful environment?

Nevertheless, I did see the upside of shooting this IRL. The fact is that even excellent top-notch AI renderings are obviously fake, and a lot of the audience would be put off by that. Also, calling for a rideshare can be a little intimidating and scary, so executing a conceptual campaign with real objects, in real locations, perhaps makes it more relatable.

I sometimes talk about my favorite photographs being magical, but with a foot firmly in reality, and I think that applies here. Shooting a playful and somewhat fantastic image within grounded reality makes it stranger and more fun than something life-like, but clearly AI-generated.

I appreciated from the get-go that the agency Zulu Alpha Kilo understood all this, and commissioned a veteran prop maker and puppeteer, Ron Stefaniuk. This guy was all in, with various dollars for different scenarios, including ones that could get wet, laminated manually on both sides. The depth of his research and testing went a long way to the success of this campaign.

One of the key elements that we developed together was ensuring that our strobe lighting went through the bill, so that the viewer could see the printing on the reverse, making the bill feel more physical.

One of my favorite things about this campaign was bringing the dollar bill to life. It was important to the narrative that the bill “look sad,“ but not be off-putting or depressing. The puppetry team was a big contributor, but working closely with the creatives of the agency, Jacob Gawrysiak and Olivia Hashka, was also key. I want to communicate their storyline, but to keep the ads inviting and delightful, as no audience wants depressing advertising.

Much appreciation to Pam Hamilton and Sparks Photographers, who deftly shepherded this job through several twists and turns, landing it on strong footing.

Top Three Images: Lyft ads by Zulu Alpha Kilo, photography by Chris Buck. Retouching by Kerry Shaw.

Bottom Image: Lyft ad in context.