Sussex, WI - Under a new, multi-year agreement, Quad/Graphics Photography Services will become L.L.Bean's exclusive provider for studio photography.

The agreement, an expansion of an existing Quad/Graphics contract, goes into effect this month and covers photography for L.L.Bean's catalogs, including the Men's, Women's, Kids, Fly Fishing, Hunting, Traveler and Home titles as well as its websites and e-commerce businesses.

As part of the unique partnership established by this agreement, L.L.Bean will build Studio 1912, a state-of-the-art, 16,000-square-foot all digital photography studio in Westbrook, a Portland, Maine suburb, about 20 miles from L.L.Bean's Freeport corporate headquarters. The Studio 1912 name reflects the year that L.L.Bean started in business. Quad/Graphics Photography Services will manage studio operations in cooperation with L.L.Bean's Photography Operations and Creative Department. The new studio will feature seven shooting bays, which will accommodate dozens of active sets daily. Four bays will have full daylight photography capability. The studio also will include a fully equipped set-building shop, areas for merchandise management, a prop room, production offices, dressing rooms and hair and makeup areas.

L.L.Bean will direct the vision and creative direction while Quad/Graphics will provide staffing and technology support, according to Mark Kozlowski, Quad/Graphics Director of Photography. "With this contract expansion Quad/Graphics will provide the best talent and technology, and together with L.L.Bean's creative direction we will create a best-in-class photography studio which will be a model for the catalog industry, " Mr. Kozlowski said.