Austin, Texas-based Jody Horton goes into the kitchens of three chefs to document a day in the life of workers wearing the comfortable yet stylish Crocs At Work footwear collection. Specializing in food and beverage photography, Jody uses bold and gritty imagery to capture real moments of the chefs moving about while at work thanks to the ease and comfort of their Crocs. This is part of the new brand standard Crocs has established for this line utilizing Jody’s stills and video to assist in marketing the innovative footwear.
Essentially it’s about making a very small world feel genuine and real.
Designed with practicality and hospitality in mind, the Crocs At Work collection is both lightweight and slip-resistant making them an obvious choice for those working in the foodservice industry. Although this was Jody’s first time collaborating with Crocs, his background in commercial photography working with brands such as Costa, Case Knives, Zebco, and Yeti, gave the client confidence he could bring their creative vision to life. Their partnership was one of the first high-level production shoots the popular brand had done for the Crocs at Work line.
Crocs imagined a balance between gritty but vibrant imagery and that felt like a good aesthetic match.
The photo series took place at three different restaurants in Jody’s hometown of Austin. He selected each location because he knew the spaces and talent well, ensuring he had rich material to work with. The talent enjoyed participating in the project and modeling their footwear was a welcomed break from working long hours in the kitchen. Jody and his team had the pleasure of highlighting the culinary crafts of three chefs in the Austin area: Yoshi Okai of Otoko, Jam Sanitchat of Thai Fresh, and Rick Lopez of La Condesa.
It’s always a big challenge to work in restaurants that are functioning. But the tradeoff – having a rich action packed atmosphere without having to create every single scene – is worth it.
Jody had the chance to work with a gyroscopic stabilizer — the Ronin S — which allowed him to develop his technical skills and creative abilities. While it’s a piece of equipment he’s still mastering, he enjoyed having the opportunity to test it out for this project.
I think of this kind of work as documentary/commercial- lightly directed but grounded by real people doing things they know how to do. To me that is the best commercial work there is.
This assignment was a unique opportunity for a client to work with subjects that speak to the real-life functionality of their product. The Crocs brand acknowledged the hard-working nature of the chefs, while the images spoke to the company’s unique messaging around functionality and diversity. Jody’s creative expertise and edgy style resulted in a vibrant and authentic photo series for the Crocs At Work collection.
My favorite part was working with great people – Jam, Yoshi, and Rick are all super talented chefs and really great people.
Credits
Photographer: Jody Horton
Producer/Second Shooter: Whitney Arostegui
Associate Producer: Sarah Karney
Video Editor: Christopher Corona