Exactly..chatting about a picture.
I'll speak for myself, I'm not blaming James in any way. I'm offering opinion..personal and subjective. And, it is very much process related.
I agree about the -1- .It doesn't really have the type of stature that I would expect from a company who's holding up their finger and saying we're number one! It's sort of chunky and inadequate looking. The shape and look of that number 1 was talked about quite a bit during this shoot, no doubt..perhaps it was done this way to lessen the possibility of the implications were rattling about?? Perhaps no.
See, the whole article was written about the process..the crew, the client, the folks involved..The process of point A to final Image, retouched and mastered for printing.
Decisions like wardrobe, casting, hair, make up, set building, lunch, editing and coming up with the final select, or selects (if this was a composite) were discussed, batted around. Probably some samples shot and changes made.
All along the way..for most high profile commercial jobs, this is the way it happens. You step back sometimes and say to yourself..."I can't believe I just spent the better part of half a day talking about whether that shirt implies responsible or irresponsible". Strange discussions that only happen on photo sets or film sets.
Sometimes it works out great and everyone is thrilled..other times it doesn't and things get staus quo'd, homogenized and mediocrified, politically corrected. "Ok, lets go with the fro but we need to make sure the wardrobe doesn't suggest a savage or a hooker, climbing a pecker".
This goes on every step of the way. This whole process of discussion has every sort of bearing on the phallic discussion here..think through it and use some common sense. This point was brought up somewhere along the way during this project...strike me dead with a monolithic #2 if I'm wrong.
Mark DS, you choose to interpret this the way you like..that's fine..
The only challenge I offer is for you to recognize the validity, even in the slightest sense, of the potential connotations here. If you can't you might be much much older than I and still rooting for the Victorians