Fun in Food Photography

by Editor Lourens Durand
Published the 23rd of September 2020

'Pea time' by Wieteke de Kogel

Artistic depiction of food has been around for centuries, with notable examples being Stone Age drawings of food being hunted, Michelangelo’s Last Supper of the 15th century and the Dutch Golden age of the 19th century. The latter slowly progressed from scenes of excessive feasting and an abundance of rich foods, painted in rich colours, to a more modest portrayal with muted colours, mostly brown.

To a large extent, still life photography has perpetuated these principles of the Dutch Masters.

'Grapes' by Silvia Simonato

n/t by Emine Basa

'StillLife with Cake and Grapes' by UstinaGreen

More recently, though, we have been bombarded with a barrage of a novel kinds of food photography, each with their own peculiar style:

Foodie websites and blogs ad nauseum
Recipe book illustrations
Restaurant advertisements
Supermarket catalogues
Menus

Many photographers arrange their own compositions for this genre, but a whole specialist occupation has been born to assist professional food photographers – the Food Stylist.

Food Stylists arrive at the studio armed with wooden boards, backgrounds of all sorts, cotton swabs, paper towels, toilet paper, crockery cutlery, spray bottles, tweezers, plastic ice cubes and a host of garnishes. They use hair spray and deodorant spray to add frosting and shine, glycerine and water to add sparkling droplets onto fruit and vegetables, dishwasher to add bubbles to beverages, blow torches to scald meat (giving the impression that it has been grilled), and little cards wrapped in tin foil that act as mini reflectors.

Through all of these genres, the basic principles of composition and photography still apply, albeit in different ways, but they can and do sometimes become monotonous.

So, in this article, I have thought that we could look at something different in the way of food photography – simplicity, new and unusual angles, and fun-embracing.

Here is a collection of photographs of different aspects, unusual angles, and humorous views about food.

'Chilli' by sarawut intarob