Michal Venera’s powerful images of veterans make you stop and look deeper.

Hello,

Recently, BBDO created a campaign designed to boost awareness and raise funds for Mission 22, a non-profit dedicated to helping active service members, veterans, and their families deal with and heal from post-traumatic stress, brain injury, depression, and other challenges. They thought of Michal Venera’s powerful B&W portraiture work and knew he’d be perfect for the job. The campaign puts life-sized images of veterans right next to you as you sit in a bus shelter or stand on a subway platform. Billboards feature subjects sitting in car seats as you drive by. And a social component uses video portraits to stop you from scrolling and experience a moment of empathy, urgency, and even confrontation. BBDO and Mission 22 wanted images that dare you to look away, and for me, that’s the effect Michal’s portraits always have. His subjects look you straight in the eye, and you find yourself stopping, meeting their gaze, and looking back—right into their souls.

Fondly,

Freda

BBDO SF Credits:
Cameron Barnum, Senior Content Producer
Joshua Soyombo, Content Creator/Video Editor
Carter Nance, EVP, Global Client Lead
Melissa Miller, EVP, Head of Strategy
Louise Doherty, SVP, Head of Integrated Production
Virginia Cardozo, Account Supervisor
Ben Pang, ACD, Art
Jared Johnsen, ACD, Copy
Dalan McNabola, Head of Content Creation / Sr. Editor
Nadir Nelson, Video Editor