NEW YORK, NY, December 7, 2009 – Renowned photographer John Clang has joined the global Hopenhagen effort with a beautiful stop-motion short film he created to bring awareness to the United Nations' climate change conference starting December 7 in Copenhagen. In addition to the film, Clang shot and created a series of posters that that bring to life the visual representation of Hopenhagen’s citizens.
Hopenhagen, created by Ogilvy & Mather, is a powerfully simple idea – turn the city of Copenhagen into the city of “Hopenhagen.” The campaign was created to deliver a message of optimistic change and encourage the citizens of the world to connect directly with their leaders and demand a solution at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (Cop15) now happening this week.
In commenting on Clang’s work, Tham Khai Meng, Worldwide Creative Director of Ogilvy & Mather said, “"John Clang has conveyed the coming together of the world’s citizens at this seminal moment. It is an idea that captures the diversity of humankind and how together, we can all do something about climate change.”
The Clang video can be seen at www.youtube.com/hopenhagen, and is one of three videos Hopenhagen released to raise the volume on the voices of the citizens of Hopenhagen during the final ramp-up to the conference. Clang’s posters can be seen at (link here) and will be seen throughout the city of Copenhagen on on a wide variety of media. The videos have been seeded online and viewers also are invited to post their own video messages of hope and to invite friends and family to join.
“My piece depicts the citizens of Hopenhagen, people of all ages, races and nationalities uniting in support of a positive outcome,” says Clang. “For the video, 100 Hopenhagen citizens came together to share their message of hope for a better planet. They represent people from all over the world who are helping to turn Copenhagen into Hopenhagen in support of a positive outcome at this month’s UN Climate Conference. It doesn’t matter where you live or where you are from. If you believe in a better future for our planet and a more sustainable way of life, you’re a citizen of Hopenhagen.”
The campaign urges citizens of the world to visit the Hopenhagen website (www.hopenhagen.org), sign a petition demanding their leaders support climate change, and share their messages of hope through social media applications. It includes a wide variety of creative elements developed pro-bono by leading photographers and directors as well as many agency, media and marketing partners.
Clang is one of several leading photographers who have donated their images to the campaign. Others include Alex Tehrani, Christian Weber, Henrik Knudsen, Joachim Ladefoged, and Stefan Ruiz.
The Hopenhagen movement, overseen by the International Advertising Association in conjunction with Ogilvy & Mather, represents support for the United Nations, which calls for a climate treaty that is “ambitious, fair and effective in reducing emissions.” Through the support of the IAA and a coalition of the world's leading advertising, marketing and media agencies, Hopenhagen will become an empowering platform, giving voice to global citizens in the climate change dialogue and helping voice their opinions to the leaders from 192 countries attending the conference. The outcome of the new international global climate treaty has garnered public concern due to the U.S. refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocol in 2005.