LOOKIN SUPPORTS CYCLISTS
PEOPLE AND THEIR BIKES
PHOTOGRAPHED BY TUOMO MANNINEN
At the very centre of Lookin’s new advertising campaign are the individual
and collective advantages of bicycle cultures. Cycling is not only an excellent
solution for urban mobility for cities becoming increasingly polluted and congested
by trafÞc, but also a wonderfully fun way of socialising during the weekend
or going on vacation. To bring this culture to life in a truly elegant and creative
way, Lookin has chosen Finnish artist, Tuomo Manninen to shoot the campaign.
Tuomo has, for many years, been involved in the visual research of social groups
and has photographed various groups of cyclists bonded by a common passion for
the bicycle and its many uses: from bicycle couriers snaking through urban trafÞc
to members of a bicycle club and dockyard workers cycling at the work place.
The campaign takes us to Helsinki and Hamburg, cities of Northern Europe where
cycling is commonplace despite their tough climates, whether it be for work,
fun or just the convenience of quick travel. By making comfortable saddles and
relieving the stress of cycling, the slogan of “Lookin Supports Cyclists”
helps choose this means of transportation. The campaign to promote the bicycle
as the decisive choice for a better quality of life began in 2002 with Lookin’s
sponsorship of events with associations such as Fiab and Bikes Belong. The project
has international ambitions and over the next few years aims to centre attention
on the beneÞts of cycling and those of a good saddle.
It is within a group that we can find persons
at their best. Here individuals are stronger
than if they were alone; at the same time though,
they are not overshadowed in the mass.
Tuomo Manninen
(from the catalogue of “Biennale di Venezia 2001”)
