Every challenge has its own character, rhythm and style.
Across snow-covered trails, frozen lakes, mountain passes, and remote endurance routes, athletes operate in extreme environments defined by performance, endurance, and specialist equipment.
Each event brings a combination of terrain, weather, and human effort — where apparel, gear, and technology are not accessories, but essential tools of survival and progression.
Imaginarium OutThere Brands creates controlled portrait-based visual systems that place athletes and their equipment within these environments. By combining studio-captured portraits with real expedition landscapes, the work produces clear, structured, and visually powerful images that position products in authentic endurance contexts.
The result is a coherent visual approach for brands: athletes, equipment, and environment brought together in a single, credible frame that reflects real-world use under real conditions.
VISUALIZATIONS
AI-generated images to illustrate portrait ideas, approach and direction.
Let's Imagine
Participants Imagined
against a neutral background
Composite Greenscreen PortraitS
Participants & Brand Re-Imagined
Greenscreen Portrait # 1
Route Landscape # 1
Participants & Brand Re-Imagined
Final Composite Portrait # 1
Participants & Brand Re-Imagined
Greenscreen Portrait # 2
Route Landscape # 2
Participants & Brand Re-Imagined
Final Composite Portrait # 2
Participants & Brand Re-Imagined
Greenscreen Portrait # 3
Route Landscape # 3
Participants & Brand Re-Imagined
Final Composite Portrait # 3
More Participants & Brand Re-Imagined
Portraits with clothing or apparel in a landscape.
From here on all images are photographic.
Now let's make this real.
Portrait Concepts for Adventure & Endurance Events
Imaginarium OutThere Brands adapts to the specific requirements of each event, working across remote outdoor locations and temporary indoor spaces.
Using compact, portable setups, portraits can be created quickly and efficiently — on frozen lakes, along race routes, at checkpoints, or within event villages — without disrupting the flow of activity.
The approach ranges from environmental portraits that reflect the atmosphere of the landscape to more controlled studio-style images featuring participants and their equipment.
Each portrait is designed to reflect the character, resilience, and presence of those taking part, while also providing clear, structured visual assets that support the event and its partners.
The result is a coherent body of imagery that serves both participant and brand — capturing individuals, environments, and equipment in a way that supports storytelling, sponsorship visibility, and the broader identity of the event.
Ajmal Samuel
Hong Kong based entrepreneur and extreme para-athlete
ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAITS
These portraits place participants within the landscapes and operational environments of the event, highlighting both individual character and real-world context.
The emphasis is on the relationship between people, terrain, and conditions — capturing athletes within the environments they are actively engaged with, from remote trails to checkpoints and staging areas.
This approach creates images that are both narrative and functional: documenting the atmosphere of the event while also providing clear, authentic visual material that reflects participation, equipment use, and brand presence within the environment.
Applied across checkpoints, routes, and key locations, these portraits form a coherent visual layer within the broader story of the event.
Graham Uden
Biking Indonesia
People Vignettes
From Cambodia, Finland, Maldives, South Africa, Namibia, Sri Lanka
POP - UP PORTRAIT STUDIO CONCEPTS
For controlled portrait moments, temporary studio setups can be created in almost any available space — back rooms, cabins, side lanes, tents, car parks, or event structures — using daylight or simple portable lighting.
The aim is to produce clear, distinctive portraits quickly and efficiently, without interrupting the flow of the event or placing demands on participants.
These controlled environments allow for greater precision in how individuals and their equipment are presented, creating consistent, high-quality images that can be produced regardless of external conditions.
The result is a flexible production system that supports both participant portraits and brand visibility — enabling clear, consistent representation of people and equipment within a controlled setting.
Victor with his North Face & Tag Heuer
CHARACTER PORTRAITS
These portraits focus on individual character — the lines, textures, and expressions shaped by experience.
Using simple lighting and minimal backgrounds, the emphasis falls entirely on the person, removing environmental distraction and allowing presence, detail, and identity to come forward with clarity.
In endurance and expedition settings, this approach reveals determination, fatigue, humour, and resilience — offering a more intimate perspective on the individuals behind the event.
This stripped-back format also creates a consistent visual framework that can support both editorial storytelling and brand-led narratives, where authenticity and human detail are central.
The examples shown here are self-portraits, created to explore this approach in its simplest and most direct form.
Faces of Endurance
Landscapes are part of the story.
COMPOSITE PORTRAIT CONCEPTS
This series, photographed in Hong Kong, demonstrates the composite approach I use — combining real environments with controlled portraits to create a single, cohesive image.
Atmospheric street scenes were photographed on location, capturing light, colour, and spatial character. Subjects were then photographed separately in a simple studio setup, with lighting and pose carefully matched to each scene.
These elements are brought together in post-production to produce a unified image — allowing full control over composition, mood, and clarity while retaining a strong sense of place.
While this example draws on a cinematic, Blade Runner-inspired aesthetic, the same method can be applied to endurance and outdoor events: landscapes are photographed along the route, and participants with their equipment are captured separately in a portable setup.
The result is a series of clear, striking portraits that combine person, environment, and gear — images that are both visually strong and highly usable for participants, organisers, and brands.
All images are created from original photography — real locations, real light, and real people — combined into a final composition.
Blade Runner Buddies
(commissioned by art event)
Imaginarium OutThere Brands is a mobile portrait system designed for endurance events and remote environments — creating structured, high-quality imagery of athletes, equipment, and place.
Working across challenging locations, the approach combines portable studio setups with environmental photography, allowing portraits to be produced efficiently without disrupting the flow of the event.
The system supports multiple visual approaches — from environmental portraits within the landscape to controlled studio-based images and composite constructions — each designed to present individuals and their equipment with clarity and consistency.
This flexibility allows the work to operate across different needs: documenting participants, supporting event identity, and creating clear, usable visual material for brand partners.
At its core, the project connects three elements — people, product, and environment — producing images that reflect real conditions while maintaining full control over how they are seen.
Imaginarium OutThere -Brands appears by invitation, working within events to create a coherent visual framework that serves participants, organisers, and brands alike.
Richard Mark Dobson is a British photographer whose international career spans nearly four decades, working across editorial and commercial photography at the highest level.
Born in Bradford, England, and raised in South Africa, he trained in graphic design before beginning his career in London assisting leading advertising photographer Duncan Sim — a foundation that continues to inform his structured, visual approach to image-making.
Since establishing his first studio in Hong Kong, Dobson has lived and worked across Europe, Africa, and Asia, producing a diverse body of work spanning people, places, and cultures for a wide range of editorial and commercial clients.
His editorial work has been widely published in international titles including National Geographic, The New York Times, Financial Times, GEO, Condé Nast Traveler, Outside Magazine, and Travel + Leisure, among others.
Title
Nissan 350z The Most Beautiful Car in the World
Agency
TBWA Paris
Creative Director
Paul Vergroegen
Alongside this, he has worked extensively in advertising, collaborating with agencies such as TBWA, Ogilvy & Mather, Saatchi & Saatchi, Grey, and Leo Burnett, producing campaigns across Europe, Africa, and Asia — including award-winning work recognised at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Throughout his career, Dobson has combined documentary observation with conceptual and staged production, moving fluidly between real-world environments and controlled photographic systems.
This dual capability underpins Imaginarium OutThere — bringing together editorial sensitivity and commercial precision to create images that connect people, environment, and product in a clear and compelling way.
Title
Spontex
Agency
TBWA Paris
Creative Director:
Paul Vergroegen
Published Editorial
GEO (Germany), GEO (France), GEO Special (Germany),GEO (Russia) GEO Saison (Germany), Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung, Financial Times (UK), National Geographic Adventure (USA), National Geographic Traveler (USA), Toyota Infront Magazine (UK), Landrover ONELife Mag (UK) Guardian (UK), Restaurant Magazine (UK), Guardian on Sunday (UK), MERIAN Magazine (Germany), 100 Ideas Jardin (France), Conde Nast Traveler (USA), Air France Madam (France), Outside Magazine (USA), World Traveler (USA), New York Times, Departures (USA), International Herald Tribune, New York Times, Asia Inc (Hong Kong) Discovery (HK), Expression (Amex Publishing), Islands Magazine (USA), Forbes Magazine (USA),Travel & Leisure (USA) Town & Country (USA),Orient Magazine (Hong Kong), Morning Calm (Korean Air), Silk Road (Dragon Air) Business Traveller (Hong Kong), Business Traveller (UK), Mandarin Oriental (HK), Outside Magazine (USA) Lufthansa Magazine (Germany).
Published Advertising
Couldrey Jones (Hong Kong),Thompson’s (HK), Thompson’s Megacom (HK), Couldrey Jones (HK), Couldrey Jones (HK), BATES Advertising (Thailand), Old Shanghai Firecracker Factory (South Africa),Grey Advertising (SA), BLGK BATES Advertising (HK), Ogilvy & Mather (SA), Mc Cann Erickson (SA), Network (SA), Saatchi & Saatchi (SA), SMLB Leo Burnett (SA), The Agency (SA), Grey Advertising (SA), DMB&B (SA), King James Advertising (SA), Ogilvy & Mather (SA), TBWA Fusion (SA), TBWA Paris Nissan Z350 ‘cops’ Cannes ’05 TBWA Paris Spontex Cannes Silver ’05,TBWA Fusion, Jupiter Drawing Room (SA), Joe Public (SA).
Published Corporate
Business Enterprises Dong Fang Hotel Brochure China, HKTDC (Hong Kong Trade Development Council), Hill & Knowlton H.K. Ltd, Re-Act Communications Credit Lyonnaise, Hilton Hotel Hong Kong, Dalat Resorts Inc, Dalat Pine Lake Golf Course, Island Shangri-La Hotel. Hong Kong, Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel Hong Kong, Park Lane Hotel Hong Kong, DWC Tang Development China Club-Peking, International Herald Tribune China Summit-Beijing, DWC Tang Development. China Club Peking, Shanghai Tang Hong Kong, International Herald Tribune-Korea Summit, Stocks Leisure Resorts. Bakubung, Kwa Maritane, Andersen Consulting (SA),TheYamu Thailand, Movenpick Jordan.,Abu Dhabi Golf & Equestrian Centre, PearlValley golf estate Cape Town, New World Hotel Saigon, Ramana Hotel Saigon, DWP Saigon, Veolia Water Systems, Ale Heavy Lift UK, Strategic Marine Australia.
NGO’s
Greenpeace Africa, Medicine Sans Frontiers, British Red Cross.
Books
Karoo Moons ‘A photographic journey’.
Films
Pendulum Control. Winner Palandino D'Oro Sports Film Festval 'Best Extreme Film' 20205
Awards
Cannes Lion festival and D&AD for his advertising work, and has been included in the prestigious London Association of Photographers awards 2007 & 2008 and SILVER 2009.