Jacqueline Tobin

When Toyota wanted to create print ads touting its philosophy of "building future vehicles that fulfill the needs of our drivers while having minimal impact on the environment,” Dentsu America creative director Aaron Frisch says they turned to a photo of kids: the drivers of the future. "Kids have an innate fascination with cars,” Frisch explains, “the parallel to the ad being that kids create the cars they want to drive now and Toyota will create the real thing later on; both are good for the planet.”

The agency had already shot a tv spot as part of Toyota's campaign that shows kids riding home-made go-carts, but once photographer Jamey Stillings came on board, the print component took on its own personality.

Says Frisch, “It started out as a continuation of a pre-existing campaign that in the end stands on its own as an ad touting Toyota as an advocate for a better environment, now and in the future—one our kids can be a part of.” It was the first time he had worked with Stillings, but he was confident the photographer could photograph kids without creating "pure schmaltz." Frisch adds, "I knew he’d be able to instill a sense of sophistication in the image while still maintaining a warm side to it.”

While the television portion had been shot in Argentina, Stillings had a decidedly less exotic challenge—heading to a rural location in Westchester County, within a one- to two-hour radius of New York City.

After the budget was finalized and a crew assembled, the initial comp continued to evolve. says Stillings.. “Having started as a distant view of silhouetted children running down a dirt road pushing homemade carts, it became an overhead view of children running down the road toward camera, and finally a lower view with a primary “driver” dominant in the foreground,”