Food is a reasonably accommodating subject to photograph; it mostly stays still on the plate, rarely blinks at the flash and looks delicious in all its simplicity.
In addition to this, food images and food photography are in a special category which takes a long time to refine, and which has always been my prime interest in photography. Food plays a huge role in our daily lives, and even though we may just want a slice of bread with pâté to satisfy our hunger, we’re happiest when it’s the right pâté on the right bread. We are interested like never before in ingredients, production processes, recipes, shared meals and flavours.
The eyes and nose are stimulated by the scent of freshly baked bread and by the visuals of a beautifully plated dish, but our sense of hearing is just as stimulated by the crunching of a crisp apple. Sensuousness is everything when it comes to food images, because we have to trick the eye into doing the work of the other senses. You should be able to sense the feeling of the soft skin of a peach, and of the fresh, sweet fragrance and the juice that runs down your chin at the first bite, even if all you are seeing is the image.
Food photographer with a love for the camera and the art of cooking
A food photographer must be open to the senses and allow the ingredients to guide their creativity, but there is also an element of food styling that creates the setting for the perfect shot. You can choose to focus on the serving of the finished dish or on the process, and the ingredients, in contrast to the finished result. The right items on the table can be just as important to set a mood for the meal as the food on the table. The personal aspects of preparing a meal and serving it lie in the story, which must be captured in a single image, and this makes the styling of the food hugely important.
My work as a food photographer is driven by equal parts of love for the camera and for the culinary arts. With more than 15 years of experience in creating food images, I have shot pictures for cookbooks, magazine editorials, food packaging, commercial campaigns, chef portraits and photo series of restaurants and eateries. Each time, it is a joy to take inspiration from everything that food awakens in us, and the synergy of the collaboration around the photography is essential in creating the perfect food photo together.
