London Landmark Wrapped in Massive Photomosaic

(Canon Europe: General Press Release - Big Picture)

• Unique collaboration between two of the world's leading photographic talents - fashion photographer Rankin and digital photomosaic artist Robert Silvers
• 2,000 square metre poster contains almost 40,000 separate images wrapping the IMAX cinema

LONDON, April 5th, 2002 - Photographic art takes a giant leap forward today with the unveiling of 'You Can': an ambitious collaborative effort to create what is believed to be the world's largest digital Photomosaic.

'You Can' captures the seven ages of man through a montage of 15 portraits, each made up of individual snapshots.

The creation began life as 15 individual portraits, of people ranging in age from six months to 92 years, taken by one of the world's leading photographers, Rankin. These images were then combined into one single group portrait which in turn was converted by digital artist Robert Silvers into a Photomosaic? made up of 3,500 individual self-portraits by Canon employees in countries across Europe.

The final IMAX image comprises nearly 40,000 separate digital images; similar, but smaller, treatments are simultaneously being unveiled in major cities across Europe including Paris, Madrid, Milan, Duesseldorf and Stockholm.

The concept behind Canon's You Can proposition is that everybody is capable of achieving their creative potential. To support this, alongside the unveiling of the photomosaic, Canon is announcing the launch of this year's Digital Creators' Contest, which incentivises and rewards innovation in digital photography among members of the general public.

"I was immediately excited by the Photomosaic? project as it helps take my work to a new dimension - in terms of creativity and size," says Rankin.

"The sheer scale of this work interested me," commented Silvers. "I was working with images from Europe, to be displayed across Europe, at a final size I had never before imagined."

"You Can is all about empowering people to use technology to realise their personal and professional ambitions," says James Leipnik, Chief of Business Strategy, Canon Europe. "This work makes a creative statement around our new brand philosophy and we are delighted with the enthusiasm and creative input Rankin and Silvers have put into this project. I'm also pleased that thousands of Canon employees across Europe have been directly involved with the creative input and have therefore contributed to the end result."