KesselsKramer & Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek | ARTE Summer of Brothers and Sisters

posted by Robyn Pitts July 6, 2023

KesselsKramer (KK) have been busy questioning the heavenly great image of brother and sisterhood together with brain shifter Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek for European broadcaster ARTE.

The sibling bond, long ignored by researchers, is now thought to be one of the most important –and longest– in our lives. ARTE thought so too, and decided it to be the subject for their summer sequel: the Summer of Brothers and Sisters. Agency KesselsKramer got involved and brought photographer, director, and utter family-man Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek into the mix. The resulting campaign reflects everything innocent and not so innocent (depending on your childhood traumas, of course).

When they received the request from ARTE to craft something in the course of Brothers and Sisters, KK decided to revisit their very own; “It’s not all fun and games, childhood. There’s a lot of games, but it very much depends on the situation if the fun is part of the games.” After giving their brains some food for thought, they decided on the de-romanticization of brother and sisterhood. They state; “It may very well be a bond for life, but it’s also the people who most drive you insane. Like all family matters, the reality is always different from how it’s portrayed to the outside world.” And this where they thought of Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek – a pioneer in using his talent for showing the good, the bad, and the ugly.

“Sibling love is as strangely deep as it is deeply strange and often leads to the most unusual situations. But to siblings they somehow make perfect sense. This years ‘Summer of…’ campaign illustrates this special dynamic between brothers and sisters. It’s simultaneously recognizable and absurd, pretty complex and completely normal. And as real as life itself.” Maartje Slijpen, KesselsKramer, Creative Director

KK also wanted the imagery to trigger a sense of childhood nostalgia, so together with Daniel they decided to capture the brothers and sisters through raw amateur photography and a camcorder. The images transport the viewer back to simpler times and their family home, but mostly to that one sibling who always got under your skin. The warm, messy aesthetic takes inspiration from home videos. It’s up to the viewer to decide how funny they are.

“Sharing a passion for imperfection, raw imagery and a certain kind of humour makes working with KesselsKramer a no-brainer. Working on the “Summer of…” campaigns for ARTE is always a highlight of my year. This time it was extra special because it allowed me to travel back in time when I was doing all that weird stuff to my little sister. To create this campaign, we experimented with very old and cheap camera techniques, messy set design and vintage styling to make us feel like we were back in the days.” Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek