Yes, Invest!

Photo: Corinne Tobias

I was on a first date the other night when I started doing that lame thing that only I can fully pull off. I started talking about the types of food that I can’t/won’t eat. I prefer a gluten free, organic, mostly raw, minimally processed, vegan diet. Yes, I realize that when I type it out, it looks super lame and like I’m some kind of neurotic, anorexic freak. This is why I always have to make sure to counter that with a proclamation of my love for food.

It’s true, I have a lot of dietary restrictions based on Western standards, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t love food. LOVE it? That’s really an understatement. I would die without food (so would you). If I couldn’t dream about it, think about it, and eat it, my life would be such a desolate and boring place. Okay, that’s starting to sound a little crazy in the other direction. But my favorite thing to do with food? I love taking pictures of it.

I know that people talk a lot of smack about food photography lovers. I get that you don’t care what I had for lunch. I totally understand that. But when I cook something, when I create it, and lovingly plate it, and garnish it, and find great lighting and an interesting back drop for a dish, everything begins to feel like it’s flowing together. And then when I take thirty or forty pictures and only five make the cut, I’m so proud of those five photos. If I can preserve that moment of fleeting creation, I can remember the joy of cooking it and eating it. By investing myself in it, I become so aware of the dish. Food becomes more intimate and meaninful. I’m mindful of the way it looks, smells, and tastes more than I would have been if I just whipped it up and ate it.

Fin.

I really could go on about food photography forever, but alas, we’re out of time this week.

Do you have any food photos or photographic stories that you’d like to share?