This young Bali based photography duo only started pursuing full-time photography a mere year ago. These two friends came together on a leap of faith and combined their passion to create. With an urge to escape the humdrum of Jakarta and desire for new challenges and stimulation Faruq came to visit Debby in Bali and was easily convinced to relocate to Bali and start anew. With great enthusiasm and determination they threw themselves into their art and thus their photography company, For Art’s Sake Studio came to be. With their conjoined experiences, skills and willingness to try to new things, they quickly made a name for themselves and are currently working with top-notch clients in the food and fashion industries in Bali and also overseas.

The imagery they create embodies For Art’s Sake cool aesthetic character; clean, bright, versatile, with a sharp eye for detail, composition combined with playful yet subtle colour pops. Their youthful exuberance is captured in each image with fun quirky details and the right amount of funk that reflects their cool & contemporary style.

Can you tell us a little bit about how yourselves and what you do?
Faruq and I met the first time when we joined Photography & Cinematography club in University and that’s how we became friends and found our shared passion in photography. We both graduated as engineers but we decided to make a career shift and work in a creative industry. I moved to Jakarta after graduation and worked in an advertising agency full-time while Faruq stayed in Bandung and started a career as a wedding photographer. We always stayed in touch through Instagram but we had never met again since we graduated.

After working in Jakarta for 2 years I felt that creative people were really underpaid then I made a decision to move to Bali to find a better living. Everything went really smooth, it took me only a week to get a job. I worked on weekdays for a healthy restaurant doing their social media & marketing and shoot on weekends.

I always posted my work on Instagram and Faruq sent me a message asking about photography business in Bali. He had never been to Bali before and I asked him to come to visit.

Faruq made it to Bali the first time and instantly fell in love. Faruq was in Bali for 2 weeks and helped me doing photo shoots for clients. We also managed to do 6 photo shoots that we organised ourselves and 2 of them got featured in a magazine.

We found it really easy working together as when it comes to photography we share a lot of things in common. Faruq was convinced to move to Bali and decided to relocate to Bali and start this photography business with me.

What services do you offer?
We focus primarily on food and fashion photography but recently we just added up graphic design and social media into services and currently working on our own clothing brand.

We also teach workshops for both small and big group. Currently, we offer two workshops : (1) Food Styling and Photography Masterclass and (2) Mobile Photography and Editing. We receive lots of interest and positive feedback from people who partook so we are considering to do it online in the near future.

What is your favourite aspect of your work?
To stay creative and keep finding fresh ideas. In the beginning, we did only one-off projects but at the moment our clients are mostly retainer with 6 months up to 1 year contracts. Our main challenge is how to avoid repetition, instead always creating something fresh, creative and fascinating.

Can you tell me a little bit more about how your creative process takes place?
Instagram, Pinterest and magazines are our main playground. We always spend the time to scroll through Instagram & Pinterest to find inspirations and read magazines on a daily basis.

What does FASS have planned for the future?
As we have mentioned earlier, we are working on our clothing line and our studio is currently in progress.

In an ideal world without restrictions, what is the perfect profession goal you dream to accomplish?
We want people to be inspired when they see our work. In the future, we want to set up an art school for less fortunate children at free cost.

What're your favourite spots in Bali?
We like to be nature to recharge. Cool cafes and galleries are our jam too.

Can you name de Bali-based creatives that you admire or have really enjoyed working with?
Give - it’s a 100% non-profit restaurant in Canggu where all the proceeds go to social foundations.

LearnwithLocals - a community which gathers local creatives in Bali to share their skills and experience through workshop, coaching and other fascinating activities.

Check out more of Debby & Faruq’s work:

https://www.instagram.com/forartsakestudio_/
https://www.instagram.com/debbysoemadijo/
https://www.instagram.com/faruqadib/

Interview by our HONey based in Bali,
Laura Verheijke