Once upon a time, when I started Eat To Blog with Howard, our idea was that I'll take the photos and Howard was going to provide the text. Well now we both write and take photos. Anyways, so when I happened to see Spoon Fork Bacon, a collaboration between food stylist Jenny Park and photographer Teri Lyn Fisher, that sort of reminded me of our initial idea for Eat To Blog. Scrolling through the blog, it's difficult to not to jump at the screen. Like I just want to munch on these Baby Chimichangas or these Baked Egg Boats now! Besides the delicious looking photos, the whole site is so well designed. The colors of the titles match the colors of the foods/images and who said animated gifs are out?
Q. Can you tell me what you’re trying to capture when you take your food photos? A. I like to capture a mood and feeling. To create a space where someone would want to be in while eating that food.
Q. Do you approach a food photo differently than non-food photo? A. Totally. Food doesn't talk back, like people do. Its easier to interact with the food for me because its just totally visual, about pairing colors, and finding an angle that best fits the dish. For interior shoots its more about the big picture, so I try to take the same sensibilities I use in food, and use them in that area as well. Regardless of the subject, for me its still about creating a space and feeling I want to be in myself.
Q. What inspires you? A. Literally anything. Colors in nature, patterns in clothing, shapes in plants, and of course, food magazines. Graphic design is also a big influence, I try to draw compositionally from that. Also, movies. That is a big one. For instance, the color temperature in the movie A Single Man, or the Kings Speech. The Kings Speech also has some amazing nuggets of composition genius.
Q. Do you still shoot with Polaroids? What is it about Polaroids or instant photos that attracts you to them? A. I don't so much anymore. I used to a lot when it was more accessible. I have not tried the new film from The Impossible Project. I think I fell in love with Polaroids when I got my Sx-70. If you are unfamiliar with that camera, it fold down nice and neat, and is metal and leather. So it feels really heavy and nice in your hands. I probably like Polaroid for the same reasons everyone else does. The instant satisfaction of an image. You get something you see, locked in your memory, into something tangible. Its small, and cute, and has a frame already. So that's pretty cool.
Q. Any food photography heroes? If not any photography heroes? A. Oh yes. I might go on and on right now. Non food - Irving Penn. He will always be amazing. Diane Arbus, Rineke Dijkstra, David Hilliard and Sally Mann. Andrea Gentl of the awesome photography duo Gentl and Hyers just posted this series of photos: which reminds me a lot of Sally Mann. So so so pretty its almost spooky.
For super creative manipulated photography that makes my brain shake, I go look at my Gregory Crewdson books, or a Kahn and Selesnick, Teun Hocks, or Parke Harrison.
Food Photography, I think everyone can agree Con Poulos, he is so good it makes me want to vomit. As I mentioned above, Gentl and Hyers, the textures and colors they capture are so beautiful. I am also in love with Ditte Isager.
Q. Best meal you had in 2011? A. I think its a tie between these two restaurants in Los Angeles. One was Son of a Gun, followed by a magnolia cupcake. OR this pasta tasting menu I had at Mozza. Unreal. Q. Name something you want to achieve in 2012 with your photography. A. I hope to have some kind of massive creative breakthrough that changes everything for me. That would be exciting.
All photos courtesy of Teri Lyn Fisher from Spoon Fork Bacon.