Ulterior Landscapes

Written by Tucker Leverton

Ulterior reflects the moments in-between and the unspoken. For us as a team, this shoot was about the intersection of outdoor performance and refined design—less as gear for a moment, and more as part of a lifestyle that moves fluidly between city streets, travel, and the outdoors. Blending intriguing landscapes and the movement of Here and There, we sought to show the divergence between performance and style and its correlation to place and time.

The Painted Hills are one of Oregon’s Seven Wonders, and there is no question why. The striations of vibrant color timestamp millions of years of climate and ecological changes. Created from layers of volcanic ash that have weathered into claystones, the composition of the hills gives you an immediate understanding of landscape as it exists within time. The space itself is in a remote area of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument and though widely known, is tranquil and minimally populated for 50 miles around.

The shoot was designed to be a little different than a typical SMITH product shoot we’ve done in the past, in that we wanted to focus on the styling and mood of the people within the landscape. All things working together in harmony to evoke the overall tone of the new products we were launching. Another incredible thing about shooting in this area, is that it was all done in a little over a day but was able to showcase very different landscapes and environments within a short distance of one another. Suffering only one injury on the shoot, a bed of sharp Agate under the water’s surface took advantage of our Creative Director, Ben’s, foot. As he shuttled the models from shore to a rock just off the beachfront in his kayak, a small misstep took its opportunity and drew blood—a lot of blood, and reminded us that the landscape, though beautiful and tranquil, pulls no punches.

For many of us, SMITH is perceived as a brand that pushes the technology and performance side of outdoor products, and that is exactly what we’ve set out to do since the beginning.  The connection of performance and lifestyle, however, is a natural space for SMITH as many of us spend all of our time exploring, whether that is in nature, a new city, or the spaces in between—and this collection works to blend those two in the all-encompassing purpose of adventure.