cibusphoto

The oil in the shadow

Olive oil mill in Naro, in the province of Agrigento. On these pages are the three organic IGP Sicilia single-variety oils — Biancolilla, Nocellara del Belice, Tonda Iblea — and Diodoros, in its version with a handmade ceramic bottle. Labels and box are by Atelier790, the Palermo design studio we shot both series for, in 2022 and 2023.

Project
Val Paradiso
Sector
Olive oil
Year
2022–2023
With
Graphic design: Atelier790
The three Val Paradiso bottles, Tonda Iblea, Nocellara del Belice and Biancolilla, lying in a row on a hazel background among tomatoes, lemons, figs, spinach and aubergine laid out in a grid

The brief

Two series a year apart, both made for Atelier790, the studio that designed the labels and the box. In September 2022, Diodoros in its ceramic bottle: the bottle with its box, then the details up close. In October 2023, the three single-variety oils, one by one and then together. From there they went to Val Paradiso, which used them on Instagram, in the catalogue and at trade fairs: the Diodoros photographs told the product well, and the mill made them its own.

The constraint

The two bottles show the oil in opposite ways. Glass, even dark glass, lets it be seen: all it takes is light passing through, and the oil is there, with its colour. Ceramic does not. The Diodoros bottle is matte black at the top and terracotta below, with flutes, and the oil inside is never seen: the photograph has to tell it with everything else. And everything else is materials that light treats each in its own way: matte ceramic, which gives no sharp reflections and shows its shape only through shading; the wooden stopper; the black box, with glossy stripes that only appear when they catch a reflection; the copper-coloured letters, which like any metallic surface give back whatever is in front of them.

How we solved it

In both series it is the shadow that speaks of the oil. For the single-variety oils, one hard light from one side: the shadows are sharp, and the light passing through the bottle carries the colour of the oil into the shadow, next to the glass. The bottle lies in the centre, the vegetables around it in a grid, and each background is chosen against the colour of its label: the Biancolilla pink on teal, the Nocellara del Belice green on terracotta, the Tonda Iblea purple on green. Then the three together, in a single shot, on a hazel background. For Diodoros, where the oil cannot be seen, the shadow is that of an olive tree, cast on the peach wall behind the bottle. Here the light is soft, because on matte ceramic the flutes read through shading, not reflections. Up close, the glossy stripes of the box light up against the black as they catch the light, and the colour of the wall holds everything together: it sits between the terracotta of the bottle and the copper of the name.

What we delivered

  • 2022: Diodoros with its box, on the peach background with the olive tree's shadow
  • 2022: the details up close: the wooden stopper, the shoulder with the name and the flutes, the copper letters and the stripes of the box
  • 2023: the three single-variety oils one by one, each on its own background, with the vegetables in a grid
  • 2023: the three bottles together, in a single shot
  • Portrait and landscape frames

Where the images ended up

  • Instagram
  • Catalogue
  • Trade fairs
  • Val Paradiso Biancolilla extra virgin olive oil, pink label, lying on a teal background among lemons, radicchio, potatoes and leafy greens laid out in a grid
  • Val Paradiso Nocellara del Belice extra virgin olive oil, green label, lying on a terracotta background among green tomatoes, broccoli, an aubergine and figs
  • Val Paradiso Tonda Iblea extra virgin olive oil, purple label, lying on a green background among peppers, an artichoke, spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms
  • Val Paradiso Diodoros oil: the ceramic bottle, matte black at the top and fluted terracotta below, next to its black box, on a peach background with the shadow of an olive tree
  • The wooden stopper on the matte black neck of the Diodoros ceramic bottle, up close
  • The shoulder of the Diodoros bottle up close: the name on the black band and the flutes of the terracotta ceramic
  • The copper-coloured letters on the black Diodoros box: «Olio extra vergine di oliva biologico IGP Sicilia»
  • The Diodoros box up close: the copper-coloured name and the glossy stripes on matte black

More work

Back to work

Let's talk

Tell us what needs photographing

The more detail you give us, the more precise the quote: how many products, which channels the images are for, and when you need them. We reply within one working day.

Let's talk