Two friends watching the sun come up, on a disposable camera.

A friend shading her eyes, a camera in her hand.

A friend resting on a blanket in the shade, on a disposable camera.

A high kick ringed by hand-drawn contour lines.

The sun haloed over a friend’s shoulder, on a disposable camera.

A friend on a rock at sunset, ringed by contour lines.

A tent glowing orange at night, on a disposable camera.

A friend laughing behind a sparkler at night.

Pinterest × Coachella · 2024

24 Hours in the Desert

A single desert day — sunrise to sunset, shared with friends.

The challenge

The feeling of the place, more than its landmarks.

Two hands making a heart in shadow on the sand.

In partnership with Coachella, this project brings Pinterest's editorial aesthetic to life by capturing the desert as a shared experience among a close-knit group of friends. Set across the arc of a single day—from sunrise to sunset—the content highlights the desert's shifting moods as a backdrop for connection, creativity, and self-expression.

Pinterest’s Originals team wanted a desert day for its first year as Coachella’s partner, made for a Gen Z audience: the feeling of the place more than its landmarks.

Client: Pinterest × Coachella
Scope: Creative · Production · Post
Delivered: 59 Stills5 Video PinsBonus :30 social cutBonus Super 8 filmGraphic-overlay stills

The sun haloed in a hazy sky over a friend’s shoulder, on a disposable camera.

What made it hard

Twenty-four hours of light, shot in two days

The location changed two weeks before the shoot, to Joshua Tree, because Pinterest’s look mattered more than the logistics. That left two days on private land to cover a whole sunrise-to-night arc in four formats at once, with the disposable film still at the lab when the first selects went to Pinterest.

Shoot days: 2
Stills delivered: 59
Days, first shoot day to delivery: 17

What we made

Fifty-nine stills, four formats, one day.

Shot at Nowhere, a private property outside Joshua Tree, the day runs from coffee on the rocks at sunrise to sparklers after dark.

33 selected photosDrag to explore · click to openSwipe sideways · tap to open

Two friends with coffee on the rocks at sunrise.

A friend framing the camera with her fingers, the desert behind her.

A desert picnic, one friend taking a photo across the spread.

NOWHERE painted on the ground, the group’s shadows beside it.

An Instax of a friend watching the sun go down from the rocks.

A tent glowing orange at night, a friend with a ukulele in the doorway, on a disposable camera.

A friend laughing at the wheel of the van on a desert road.

Bare feet up at the van’s window over a dirt road.

Two friends in bucket hats watching the sun come up, on a disposable camera.

A friend standing on a boulder at first light while another photographs from below.

The group gathered on a rock outcrop in early light.

A peace sign in the van’s wing mirror, a Joshua tree beside the road.

A Joshua tree beside a granite boulder under a bright sky.

An Instax of a friend sitting on white rocks against a deep blue sky.

Black and white: friends on and beside the van.

Friends running across the sand, blurred with motion.

A friend leaping over the rocks above another, who is laughing.

A friend filming on the rocks, hand-drawn angel wings around her.

A friend in a split leap against an empty sky.

A skateboarder in motion, hand-drawn flames streaming from the wheels.

A high kick toward the camera, friends lounging behind.

A friend lying on a blanket in the shade, on a disposable camera.

An Instax of a friend between two boulders.

A friend on a rock at sunset, ringed by hand-drawn contour lines.

A friend standing on top of a boulder in the last light.

The group in silhouette on the rocks at dusk, Joshua trees drawn in white below.

59 stills and five video Pins for Pinterest’s own boards, plus a bonus :30 social cut, a Super 8 film and a set of graphic-overlay stills.

The partnership

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