Cut Food
This series was inspired by an assignment in which we were asked to cut a burrito in half for a client. At first, I thought it unappealing but soon realized the potential for a whole new perspective for looking at food. Cross sections are not new- a cake half eaten shows it’s interior. When applied to food items which are unexpected yet commonplace, even easily recognized within our food vocabulary, we move past the simple appetite appeal we normally try to achieve and explore the interior worlds of these products. In collaboration with the food stylists, we chose subjects which we felt were iconic symbols within our Western food culture; classic items that many of us grew up eating. As we shot each subject, it became apparent that some images needed to live in pairs such as the soup cans and the pints of ice cream. Shown together they create a stronger statement about their symbolic nature.
After testing various options, I came to realize that placing these subjects against a black background with a singular hard light helps focus the viewer on the hard reality of each interior; the texture and surface quality allowing each subject to reveal its own unique world within. There is a pictorial quality harkening back to magicians with rabbits coming out of black hats. My premise was to create imagery which looks as if it is happening magically, but as real as possible.