Swedish Farmers and Tim Shepherd Unite in a Remarkable Campaign as a Homage to the Soil

BBC Green Planet cameraman Tim Shepherd joins Swedish Lantmännen in launching a campaign that celebrates the earth and everything it has to offer, featuring captivating time lapse photography.  

The agricultural co-operative with operations throughout the entire food value chain is owned by 18,000 Swedish farmers with the mission to make farming thrive. The poetic film, directed by Per-Hampus Stålhandske begins with a small seed growing and takes the viewer on a journey through rain, drought, sun, and frost. 

“The vision is to make people feel attached to life on Earth and the source of their food, that it is all grown out of the soil. The Earth is crucial for our future, and we have to manage and look after it.” said Tim Shepherd.

“With this campaign, we aimed to create something that touches the heart, something instantly felt. Shepherd has an outstanding legacy, having been involved in wildlife documentaries such as Green Planet and Planet Earth, which portray nature with compassionate visual storytelling. This is what we and our owners wanted to achieve with our campaign, ’a homage to the soil,’ which we believe Shepard and the rest of the team executed flawlessly.” said Per Holgård, head of group marketing at Lantmännen. 

The filming took about five months, with some of the shots taking three-four weeks to capture.  

“To work out how often we need to take a frame, we need to first of all decide how long it’s going to take for the plants to grow. For example, if you want to create a ten-second shot over ten days, then you want one second of shot per day, which is 25 frames, roughly one frame per hour.” said Tim Shepherd. Lantmännen has been on a journey to highlight the importance of keeping the soil fertile for future generations. This campaign is a continuation of a long brand journey in which they are changing perceptions by depicting the soil as very much alive and active - something we tend to forget. 

“This campaign is a celebration of all that the very soil we walk on provides and serves as a reminder of the critical importance of maintaining its fertility. It exemplifies visual storytelling at its best, where we follow the growth of nature without the need for words or explanations. For this reason, it was crucial that the visual concept was precise and pristine, a task for which someone like Tim Shepard was ideally suited.” said Petter Dixelius, creative director at Nord DDB.

“I really enjoyed working on this project, I found it very inspirational and encouraging. The results are indeed worthwhile.” said Tim Shepherd. 

“To direct this, and work alongside NORD DDB, Lantmännen, and Tim Shepard has been incredibly enjoyable. I believe it is evident in the final result that we have shared a clear vision for what we want the film to convey.” said the director, Per-Hampus Stålhandske.