In Feature 045 of ‘Conversations Behind The Campaign,’ we sat down with Daniel Sachon, a director and photographer whose work spans fashion, film and advertising.
Sachon built his portfolio through personal projects, using the freedom to experiment and develop his own point of view before moving into directing. He has since worked with some of the industry’s biggest names, from SKIMS and Tiffany & Co. to Salt & Stone and Dolce & Gabbana, bringing a distinct visual style and sense of humour to each.
In our conversation, Sachon discusses his transition from photography to directing, his ethos towards creating entertaining content over just humour and how he balances creative vision with brand identity.
You started working with photography from a young age. What first drew you to image-making, and when did you realise you could build a career from it?
I was always creative but with dubious hand-eye coordination and a lack of the patience required to paint or draw. Photography as a medium is immediate, and I responded to being able to try an idea out, see if it worked and figure it out as I went. I did not really think about it as a career until it was too late.
Do you think starting out so early in the industry was an advantage – allowing you to remain slightly naïve, trust your instincts, and make work you genuinely liked without overcomplicating the process?
Starting young probably afforded me the freedom to explore without much adult responsibility looming over me. The lack of pressure meant I could experiment, make mistakes and figure out what I liked and hated with very little sense of consequence.
You’ve since moved further into directing. What was the transition from stills into motion like for you, and what did directing allow you to explore that photography couldn’t?
It was a very natural progression. I realised I had been approaching photography more like a director, and that I was more interested in world-building and what was happening in an image rather than the technical mechanics of making one.
Directing gave me the chance to train that muscle, but also the added stress of being responsible for a wider team and also having to actually say the thousand words a photo gets away with implying. Now both practices inform each other.
What’s your process when conceptualising a shoot? Does it start with a story, a mood, a visual reference, the talent, or something entirely different?
It is always different. Sometimes I have a specific idea in my head and then work out how to make it happen. Other times it starts with who I am shooting or what I am shooting, and then I might respond to that quite literally or see them in a completely different story or world they could fit into.
“I think the common thread is that I always want a video to have a bit of bite rather than rely solely on how it looks.”
Even if none of that translates and nobody has any clue, having a conceptual framework in my head gives every decision a reason and, ultimately, I think makes the work stronger.
A lot of your work has a strong sense of humour and personality, from the Drink Update campaign with Kim Kardashian to your work with Role Model for Salt & Stone. How important is humour to the way you approach storytelling?
I think it started because I do not think my job, or the industry at large, is all that serious, despite people’s best efforts to over-intellectualise it and convince you otherwise. I like to think of my work as entertaining more than explicitly funny. I want it to be worth watching.
Looking across your work for Khy, Frankies Bikinis, SKIMS, Salt & Stone, Tiffany & Co. and Drink Update, each brand has a very different world. How do you make sure the work still feels like you while giving each brand its own identity?
I like to think of a brand as an entity with its own legacy and visual language to draw on. I enjoy exploring that universe and figuring out what I want to do with it. I have been lucky to work with brands who want a director’s hand to show, so they are open to my take (within reason).
“With any commercial project there is always a dance of: you know what you want, I know what I want, who can gaslight the other into submission? I find that flirt quite fun in a slightly sadistic way.”
Landing your first client is often the hardest part. How did you grow your personal brand and portfolio to the point of working with brands like Tiffany & Co., Salt & Stone, SKIMS, Frankies Bikinis, Drink Update and Khy?
I always invested back into my own work so I could make projects without a client or brief dictating creative decisions.
“Any spare money I had in my teens went into personal work, which was probably not financially literate, but let me build a body of work showing what I actually wanted to make.”
People, specifically clients, often do not know what they want until they see it, so I think it is important to show them what they could want rather than build a portfolio entirely from commissions.
We’re seeing brands increasingly invest in entertainment-led content that feels more like a film or piece of culture than a traditional advert. What do you think brands are getting right, and where do you think there’s still room to push things further?
I think brands are increasingly self-aware and realise that people do not just want to be sold cool stuff, they also want cool stuff to look at. I actually love seeing the squarest, most sexless corporations shelling out cash to artists in pursuit of some cultural cachet. It may be a slightly greasy exchange, but it can also mean someone gets to make something they actually want to.
“Where it begins to fall apart is when a brand hires a director or artist because they are drawn to their work, then proceeds to slowly dilute everything that attracted them in the first place. If you hire someone for their point of view, you have to actually let them have one.”
What has been your favourite project to date, and why?
Honestly, a single project does not come to mind. I choose to believe that does not mean my work is shit, but just that I have not made my favourite yet.
AI is starting to play a big role in creative work. As someone whose work is so rooted in directing, casting and building a world, does it excite you, worry you, or somewhere in between?
Both. Incorporating it judiciously into your workflow to make your job easier or your work better feels like the normal course of technological convergence that has plagued us forever and will continue to do so. Using it as an easy way out is less interesting and just kind of annoying. My general feeling is: use it, do not surrender to it.
I also do not believe AI can replace creative jobs entirely. For that to happen, a client would need to be able to prompt it with exactly what they want, so I think we are safe for now.
Where can our audience follow and engage with you on social media?
Instagram @dsachon
