Launching Bupa Picture of Health, with photographer Annie Leibovitz

We’ve teamed up with legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz to launch ‘Picture of Health’ for Bupa – a global campaign that celebrates diverse health stories, launching 100 days ahead of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

Bupa Picture of Health follows new research from the Bupa Group that reveals four out of five Brits feel that the portrayal of health is often misrepresented in society, with over a third believing that health is frequently shown as one size fits all. While the majority (51%) recognise that role models can inspire positive health changes such as staying active (52%) and building self-belief (18%), one in four want to see more fitness abilities and body types portrayed in the media.

An image of UK Paralympian Richard Whitehead MBE, shirtless with prosthetic running blades is climbing a tall metal structure, with an urban cityscape visible in the background.
A man with prosthetic legs, Paralympian Curtis McGrath stands on a riverbank holding a paddle next to his kayak. He wears a blue athletic outfit and looks confidently into the distance. Overcast skies and a historic Parisian bridge span the river in the background.
A smiling family group at a running track. An adult woman embraces Para athlete Emmanuel Oyinbo-Coker in a white tank top. They are joined by a laughing boy with glasses and another smiling man in a blue shirt, all sharing a happy moment together.

Annie, renowned for her iconic portraits, captured what health means to six Paralympic and Para athletes from all over the world with captivating portraits that celebrate health in all its forms. The portraits were displayed in an OOH special build, open-air gallery on London’s South Bank. 

Visitors were able to submit their own Picture of Health to feature on a digital screen alongside the portraits, through their phone or in a specially designed photo booth. 

Among the six portraits is British Gold medallist Richard Whitehead MBE, for whom health is determination, transforming adversity into opportunity, and Emmanuel Oyinbo-Coker, British sprinter and Paris 2024 hopeful, captured with his family to reflect his holistic view of health as both physical and mental energy.

Para Athlete Sara Andrés Barrio with running blades is mid-stride in front of the Eiffel Tower. She wears a sports bra and shorts. The background features a cloudy sky and Parisian architecture.
Two men stand on London's Southbank infront of an open air gallery, one of the men has prosthetic legs.
A woman with glasses, Paralympian Mariana Zúñiga is outdoors in a green forest, focusing intently on a target while holding a red compound bow in full draw position. She is wearing a black sleeveless jacket over a long-sleeved red shirt.

Fiona Bosman, Brand Director at Bupa Group, commented: “Picture of Health aims to start a conversation about what health is, and what it can be. We’ve loved working with our agency partner PrettyGreen to bring this to life. We wanted to begin the campaign with a series of dynamic and striking photos that could inspire people to share their own Pictures of Health. Given her fame for capturing the stories of the people she works with, Annie Leibovitz was the perfect photographer to help bring Picture of Health to life and showcase what health means for each of our six athletes.”

Sam Hooper Gill, our Client Services Director at PrettyGreen, added: “Bupa really understands that health is unique to each of us. So often the way ‘positive health is portrayed in the media is one-dimensional. We wanted to challenge this with Picture of Health and start a global conversation about what health means to different people.”

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