Art Direction/Photography

Any guesses how this image was shot?

In 1988 I art directed this photo shoot at a studio, for a series of shots to introduce a newly branded soda pop range in Sri Lanka. The shot required a spilled clear soda bubble, partly covering each new label, revealing the new look in a teaser campaign. This image was the last one where all labels were revealed, covered in a bubble that was shaped like the bottle, with the actual bottle top popping out with a fizz.

This whole series were shot and used for final production without any kind of retouching or image manipulations, as there was no Photoshop or digital AI to help achieve this look as we do now. Actual airbrushing on a print was available, but that was not used either. It’s one of the most inquired about pieces in my portfolio, and it’s actually a simple method that I came up with at the studio.

The labels are placed under a thin clear glass so that the liquid doesn’t touch and damage it. Then I used clear Glycerine which is like water, clear but thick enough to keep its’ shape as a bubble or whatever we wanted. However in this shot due to the heat of the studio lights, the shape would change in between shots, which forced me to I use a brush to reshape it to look like the bottle, while the photographer clicked several more shots. Of course it wasn’t digital and we had to wait couple of days till the film was developed, and prints were made, to see if the shape of the bottle was captured correctly. Quite a few of the shots did and it was a very successful re-launch of the brand that made the client very happy!

Below are few other instances where as an art director I used props and lighting to take a “one shot” image without any retouching or image manipulation.