Whistler from Behind the Lens: Images tell the Whistler story

Whistler, B.C. – As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, and with an endless scrapbook of Whistler images fuelling its story, the Whistler conversation has never been better.

From the people’s lens to the pro’s lens, Whistler offers a spectacular backdrop for imagery and Tourism Whistler, in launching its winter campaign and associated contests this month, continues to maximize on the social media phenomenon of image sharing to capitalize on the power of photography in telling the ultimate story.

Last winter, the marketing organization launched the highly successful #WhistlerUnfiltered campaign, encouraging the sharing of Whistler images with the hashtag #WhistlerUnfiltered. More than 25,000 images were tagged and shared by Whistler guests, creating a perspective on Whistler through the people’s lens. This year, while expanding upon the #WhistlerUnfiltered concept, Tourism Whistler invited some of the world’s top professional action sports and lifestyle photographers who’ve also documented Whistler to participate. Evolving for winter 2013/ 14, the #WhistlerUnfiltered campaign introduces the Pro’s Lens as well as the People’s Lens.

“The #WhistlerUnfiltered campaign was developed to showcase genuine Whistler experiences as portrayed through the images of our guests,” explains Louise Walker, Tourism Whistler’s Vice President of Marketing Strategy.

“Our research shows us that 86 per cent of our guests share images and content about their Whistler vacations while in-resort,” Walker said. “These guests, who are sharing their Whistler images with their own audiences, become our ambassadors, telling the story of Whistler and promoting the resort to essentially millions of potential visitors.”

Through the Pro’s Lens, an exhibit by nine professional photographers, has been created, along with their stories and videos, in Behind The Lens.

Led by the award-winning Blake Jorgenson, the team of esteemed photographers also includes Mattias Fredriksson, Robin O’Neill, Paul Morrison, David McColm, Mike Helfrich, Jussi Grznar, Jordan Manley and Steve Simon. Find their images, stories and videos at Behind The Lens. Selected to act as curator for the project, Jorgenson, who owns the Blake Jorgenson Gallery in Whistler, worked with Tourism Whistler’s advertising agency, Origin Design + Communications, to identify, shortlist and assemble the collection of work from participating photographers while also providing guidance and art direction in the curation of the exhibit.

As he describes in an interview for the Whistler Insider, Jorgenson explains the significance of the Behind The Lens project.

“It’s progressive. The way people communicate with each other is changing and this project acknowledges that. My job was to find photos that would interlink together as an exhibit or presentation and still tell the full Whistler story,” he said. “The cool thing was none of the photographers got sent out with a marketing department brief or shot-list. All of these photos existed beforehand because the photographers wanted to capture that exact moment of life. These images are truthful and together they take a different approach, one of real connection. They say - come to Whistler because we have awesome people and awesome experiences.”

Enter for a chance to win
In support of the winter campaign, Tourism Whistler also launched its winter signature contest: Picture Perfect at Whistler is a simple enter-to-win contest with one grand prize, valued at approximately $13,000+ CDN with a trip for two to Whistler, including:
• round-trip airfare
• ground transfers, courtesy of Pacific Coach Lines
• seven nights’ accommodation, courtesy of the Hilton Whistler Resort & Spa,
• winter gear (including ski or board package – skis/ board, boots, bindings, poles and travel bag) from K2
• outerwear (jackets, pants, base layers, toques and gloves) from Columbia Sportswear
• DSLR camera
• Whistler Blackcomb li
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