Barry’s
Face Yourself CAMPAIGN x
New Spirit COLLAB
When Barry’s Calgary set out to launch their “Face Yourself × New Spirit” campaign, they weren’t looking for no ordinary fitness imagery. They needed campaign photography that could live at the intersection of strength and vulnerability—images that embodied the internal confrontation their community experiences every time they step into the infamous Red Room.
Barry’s invited us to collaborate on creating campaign visuals that would elevate the story beyond fitness clichés. The result? A bold collection of photography that captures grit, introspection, and energy with the artistry of fine portraiture.
Campaign photography for a bold fitness-fashion collab.
Project Overview
The “Face Yourself × New Spirit” campaign was designed to remind Barry’s members that the hardest battles are often the ones fought within. The campaign aimed to inspire participants to push past mental barriers and embrace their strength, both physical and emotional.
Our role was to create a visual toolkit that could translate this concept into imagery, capturing both the raw intensity of Barry’s workouts and the quiet, personal moments of resilience that define the brand experience. Over the course of just a 20-minute micro session—we delivered a collection of versatile, high-impact visuals they could use across social media, in-studio, and seasonal brand activations.
The Challenge
The most obvious challenge we faced was our 20-minute time limit. This was, quite literally, a micro-session campaign. This forced us to develop maximum rapport in the minimum amount of time with the coaches being photographed. Once we got to know each other, we jammed on ideas for the first few minutes—then got to work. The team smashed it out of the park, and everyone was super stoked with the result.
Barry’s Bootcamp is famous for the intensity of its workouts and the moody, red-lit environment of its studios. While powerful in person, this environment presents significant creative challenges for photography: saturated light, minimal ambient control, and fast-moving subjects. We overcame this with the use of strobe light and external flash.
On top of these time and technical hurdles, the campaign demanded imagery that spoke to more than just physical exertion. The photos had to reveal the emotional weight of “Facing Yourself”—the moments of doubt, resilience, and transformation that define the Barry’s experience.
The PROCESS
We began by building a vibe archive rooted in cinematic portraiture and narrative grit while still adhering to the overarching creative brand guidelines for the Barry’s brand. Rather than fighting against the Red Room’s saturated tones, we designed a lighting strategy that complemented it—portable strobes, custom gels, and high-speed sync techniques that allowed us to sculpt light while preserving the room’s signature atmosphere.
Our campaign shot list balanced introspective stillness and explosive movement. We captured quiet portraits of members confronting themselves in the mirror, blurred motion frames of sprints and lifts, and environmental shots that showcased the tone set in Barry’s classes.
Equally important was directing the coaches—real people, not just models, to bring authenticity into the campaign. We worked closely together to lean into the emotional story of the campaign: moments of confrontation, vulnerability, and breakthrough. This emotional dimension gave the images depth that resonated far beyond surface-level “fitness shots.”
The RESULTS
The campaign photography helped reframe Barry’s messaging from a “workout you do” to an experience you live. Barry’s Calgary saw significantly higher engagement with the campaign visuals on social media, with shares, saves, and comments nearly doubling compared to previous campaigns.
Coaches and leadership praised the images as “feeling like art, not marketing”, a testament to the balance of creativity and strategy in our work. Importantly, the photos have proven adaptable, continuing to fuel seasonal campaigns and digital initiatives long after the initial rollout. We captured more than movement. We told a story of resilience, reflection, and triumph—making the campaign feel human and relatable.
The Takeaways
The “Face Yourself × New Spirit” brand imagery campaign proves that the right photography doesn’t just show a workout—it has the power to embody the experience. At tannerstrachanCREATIVE, we specialize in transforming brand energy into visuals that move people in a way that forces them to stop and look, not just scroll past them.
By engaging with Barry’s brand team and coaches in a way that rapidly built rapport, we were able to align seamlessly with their ethos while simultaneously weaving a new creative dimension of our own into the Barry’s brand fabric. The Red Room’s low light and saturated red tones would overwhelm many photographers. We turned those constraints into a strength, using them to heighten mood and intensity.
The story doesn’t end here. Step into The Red Room.
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