The Tanqueray Perfect Ten Campaign

Tanqueray Ten diageo Reserve Brands Group gin Martini

I was commissioned by Samantha Durchslag, Global Head of PR, Diageo Reserve in London to produce and execute a photographic shoot (along with accompanying behind-the-scenes video footage) in ten cities, in ten countries for the Tanqueray Perfect Ten global PR Campaign. The brief was to photograph classic portraits of each of the ten bartenders, shoot a reportage of them making their signature Tanqueray Ten Martini, and capture iconic scenes from each city.

The project began in September, 2007 at Milk & Honey and The Bar at the Dorchester in London. Our team then moved on through Europe, stopping at The Galaxy Bar in Athens, Ideal and La Florida in Barcelona, the Tearose in Monza, and finally to Paris to photograph The Hemmingway Bar in the Ritz, and the main bar in the sublime Costes Hotel.

From Europe, we headed west to the United States to cover nine bars in the two selected cities. In New York, we shot at STK in the Meatpacking district, Death & Company in the lower east side and The Flatiron Lounge on West 19th Street. We also photographed the historical Bemelman's Bar at the Carlisle Hotel in the upper east side and The World Bar near the United Nations.

In December, we started the third stage of the worldwide tour in South Beach, Miami, choosing bartenders from the Setai, DeVito's, Prime and Barton G. The last stop before the Christmas holidays was the bar at the W Hotel in Mexico City.

In January 2008, Tokyo was selected as the first of the two Asian cities to be featured in the campaign and the only shoot featuring a female bartender: Yukiyo Kurihara at the city's new Mandarin Oriental Hotel. The final stop in Asia was the historic city of Shanghai and the Rouge Bar on the Bund.

All in all, the Tanqueray Ten Perfect Ten campaign took more than five months to complete. Over twelve thousand frames were shot, filling over a terabyte of disk space; 15 flights and one Eurostar were taken; $5,300 in excess baggage was paid; 12 different hotel rooms were slept in; and innumerable taxi and van journeys were endured. As for the number of Martinis drunk? That's anybody's guess.

Client: Reserve Brands Group, Diageo Ltd

Visual Creative Director / Photographer: James Bareham

Art Director: Chris Lowe at Chilli

Producer: Stuart Hart - TNC Productions

Photo Assistant: Hal Shinnie

Stylist: Ariane Garrision