The Hilton appearance at IMEX Frankfurt was recorded as a combination of brand space, presentation and networking. The generous stand held several different areas and gave visitors room for conversation and encounter.
The photographic task was to tie the stand design and its actual use together. That sounds obvious and is not, because the two rarely look good at the same moment.
Layout, orientation and scale
Wide frames show the layout, the orientation and the scale of the stand. They answer how the space is divided and how a visitor moves through it.
Closer frames concentrate on conversations, individual brand elements and the atmosphere in the lounge areas. Only together do the two levels give a picture of the appearance.
The series is in the project Hilton – IMEX.
Empty shows the architecture, full shows the response
At an international fair the number of visitors and the way they move change within a few minutes. An empty stand shows the architecture but reads as lifeless. A completely full space conveys response but can hide the design.
So the series combines quiet windows of time with busy moments. That is not a question of post-production but of planning: the empty frames are made early, the busy ones during the program.
Expecting both in the same hour ends with only one of the two statements.
Design ambition and communicative purpose
What came out of it is a record that makes both the design ambition and the communicative purpose of the appearance visible.
For a hotel brand at a trade fair the second point is the more important one: the stand is not an exhibit but a place where appointments are meant to happen.
Related work is under event photography.
