The Sitters

Members, not models: four people from a credit union's own membership, one at a time, on four plain backdrops.

Client: Tallis Credit Union
Agency: Lowfield Creative
Discipline: Portrait
Year: 2026
Made at: Stage One
Licensed use: Out-of-home, print and social · North America · 2 years
Delivered: 14 retouched portraits, 3 out-of-home crops

Credits

Photographer Ines Halloran
Art director Petra Lindqvist, Lowfield Creative
Casting Members of Tallis Credit Union
Hair and make-up Dana Oyelaran
Digital tech Marek Sobczak
Retouching In-house

Lowfield wanted the campaign to look like the membership: no casting agency, no wardrobe, no smiles on request. We sent a two-line call-out through the branches and photographed the first four people who said yes.

Each sitter had twenty minutes on Stage One with a single large source and a choice of backdrop. We shot tethered so they could see the frames as they came in, and stopped when they recognised themselves.

The campaign ran on transit shelters across three states with each sitter's first name and how long they had been a member — the only copy.

7 frames

Studio portrait of a smiling young woman with natural curly hair in an olive T-shirt, hands behind her back, against an olive-green backdrop. — Ruth, member since 2019.

Older woman with short white hair in a beige T-shirt, looking straight at the camera against a slate-blue backdrop. — Ada, member since 1987.

Young woman with long dark hair in a green T-shirt, hands together at her chest, against a pale grey backdrop. — June, member since 2022.

Bald older man in a white T-shirt with his arms crossed, frowning slightly, against a slate-blue backdrop. — Walt, member since 1974.

Full-length portrait of an older woman in a sleeveless top and checked trousers against a black backdrop. — Ada again, full length on black for the branch posters.

Close portrait of the same smiling sitter in a red-orange camisole against a mustard-yellow backdrop. — Ruth, the close crop used on the shelter panels.

Older woman with short white hair in a beige T-shirt, chin raised, against a slate-blue backdrop. — The last frame of the day: Ada, chin up.

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