Naked Ice Fishing — Self-Portrait Promo #2, Quebec
The Naked Promo Card Series
Promo cards are one of the oldest tools in a commercial photographer's marketing toolkit. Most of them look the same: a strong image, a name, a website. Marc Olivier Le Blanc decided to do something else entirely.
The naked promo card series is exactly what it sounds like: a sequence of self-portraits in which Marc is, completely naked, somewhere remarkable. One image per quarter. A different location each time. The same commitment to making the photograph actually work — not just as a stunt, but as a real image with real craft behind it. The strategy worked. The series generated attention, conversation, and bookings in a way that conventional promotional materials never would. It also makes a statement about who Marc is as a photographer: someone willing to be exactly as exposed in front of the camera as he asks his subjects to be.
Ice Fishing in Quebec — How Series #2 Was Made
For the second installment, the setting was a frozen lake in Quebec. Marc was on vacation with friends, snow-shoeing two miles through the woods to reach the lake for an ice fishing session. Somewhere between the trailhead and the shoreline, the idea became obvious.
What you cannot see in the photograph is the wind. The lake was completely exposed, the temperature was extreme, and the process of undressing and composing a well-lit self-portrait in those conditions required a level of conviction that transformed a plan into a story worth telling. Marc managed it. Barely.
Commercial Photography and Photographer Marketing in San Francisco
The naked promo series is a four-part project and arguably the most effective marketing Marc has ever done. Each installment lives on the blog — see the full series. If you are a brand, startup, or agency in San Francisco looking for a commercial photographer with a sense of humor, view the portfolio or get in touch.
Marc Olivier Le Blanc is a commercial photographer in San Francisco, working with brands including Levi's, Airbnb, Google, Starbucks, The North Face, and Visa. His commercial and lifestyle photography spans the Bay Area, California, and international locations.
