After Sunny joined us on the podcast for the Lume Cube roundtable review, I immediately invited him back to do a full interview. He’s been on my list of hopeful guests since the podcast started, as he’s one of my favorite toy photographers and has such a unique style.
Tiny Worlds, Epic Tales
Anyone who’s seen Sunny’s work knows what I’m talking about – his already fantastic sense of humor is augmented by clever quotes he adds to each of his images, creating visual punchlines that enhance the viewing experience. He’s written about the history behind this technique before, but I made sure to ask him about it during the interview as well.
In addition to peeling back the layers of his photography style, Sunny and I spoke about where he gets his inspiration, the storyboard-esque notebooks he uses to jot down his ideas, how his work as a graphic designer influences his photography (and vice versa), his experience with selling his work and hosting toy photography workshops in Singapore, and so much more. The episode is live now at all of the usual places, and is of course embedded here for your listening pleasure if that’s more your speed!
ZekeZachZoom
Thanks to Sunny for taking the time to talk with me, only a day after he’d pulled an all-nighter doing a photography shoot for a client. It was such a fun conversation and led to one of my favorite episodes to date.
You can find Sunny’s work on Instagram, G+, and on his website. I also recommend you check out his articles here on the blog. It should come as no surprise that in addition to being a great photographer, Sunny’s an excellent storyteller and writer. He also graciously gave me a sneak peak into some pages of his notebook, which you can check out below.
-James
If you’ve made it this far, come continue the discussion over at our G+ community! While you’re at it, subscribe to our weekly email round up, and subscribe to the podcast so that you never miss an episode!
I haven’t had a chance to check out the podcast yet, but am grateful this post as it has lead me to Sunny’s Instagram which is full of amazing photos and some cool BTS. I can’t wait to find some time to spend listening to this edition of the podcast.
Thanks for checking out my IG account! Hope you will enjoy this podcast when you get round to listening to it!
What an inspiring podcast Sunny! Indeed, you’re a great story teller and I’m so impressed with the intentional thought and detail you put into each image to give it depth. It is quite the feat to make someone stop, stare, think and chuckle and you do it effortlessly (seemingly.)
It’s also incredible what you’re doing to spread toy photography simply for the joy it brings. Wonderful stuff.
And it blows my mind imagining you as an electrical engineer. LOL.
Thank you, Janan. Hope my Singaporean accent made you think of home! I think I did ramble on and on (I tend to do that when I talk about toy photography) and as usual, sometimes in mid sentence, I drift away to another story! I am glad you enjoyed the podcast and thanks for your kind words!
Yep, 4 years of my parents money spent studying electrical engineering gone down the drain. Though it did teach me how to solve problems in a systematic way, so it was not a total loss!