All images by Oddds Studio. Used with permission.
Oddds was established in 2013 by Reinold Lim (Penang) & Sarah Tan (Singapore). The duo believe in aesthetics and how it draws attention to people. “Often we impart our work with references of philosophical values and new thinking.” which makes complete sense in regards to their project entitled “Amber.”
Oddds tell us that the inspiration came from their fascination with fossil.
Phoblographer: Talk to us about how guys got into photography.
Oddds: Photography is about telling stories without speaking out. We love photography because it is attractive, a form of motion and experimentations of your memories. Implementing photography with design helps you to enhance your presentation and concepts of your design.
Phoblographer: How did you get the ideas and inspiration for the Amber shoot?
Oddds: Liken to fossil fuels, we were intrigued by the process of fossilization and wanted to translate that across to even the transparent labels used. It was very fitting to have Amber and its colour resonating so much into the final outcomes of the Amber shoot. The color tone of the overall imagery had to give off a sense of rustic contemporary which we wanted to carry that on throughout how the final photographs would look like. Given that Honey was our product, research was carried out on how honey was being made, honey pairings to its healing properties – all of which inspired us to curate the shoot together.
Phoblographer: This is a combination of food photography and lifestyle photography, so why the choice to go for the natural lighting look?
Oddds: Natural lighting suits the project of Amber which it is indicated honey comes from natural resources. Besides that, we love natural lighting based on our personal references. It gives breath to a photograph.
Phoblographer: Talk to us about the gear that you used for this project.
Oddds: We work with mainly a Canon DSLR and natural lighting.
Phoblographer: Why the choice for more white vs reclaimed wood that one would typically think about with projects like this?
Oddds: Based on our seven years of work, sometimes our experiences lead us to ideas that works best to compliment the brand’s expressions. For this project, it reminded us of a sort of back to the roots and wood feel to create a natural atmosphere.
Phoblographer: Were the images storyboarded and carefully planned or improvised? What went into it?
Oddds: In the progress of conceptual thinking, our belief is the longer time we work on the project, the more ideation we have on our new anthropology. Just like Amber, it captures life elements like herbs or plants underneath the transparent label to see the cycle of life from the process of it being alive to them being dead. We have had prior time to source, conceptualize and experiment with the design, props, ingredients and finally with the printing production. The photographs were taken with a free-flow belief and did not stick to any fixed setting. The angles & imagery were constantly changing, from each object, to placement, to how the other would sit side by side to even how the colours & hues compliment each other as well.
