ENOUGH is as good as a feast, they say. But not, it seems, when it comes to food photography.
Once the realm of glossy magazines, social media has spawned a dramatic rise in the sharing of pics taken not by flashy photographers, but by Jo Punter armed with a mobile phone.
I can see the appeal. Much as I enjoy cooking, I seldom follow a recipe. The pile of cook books that clutter our house are merely there just so I can look at the nice pictures in the hope of gaining at least a soupcon of inspiration. Social media, and in particular Instagram, however, have now gone large on this concept as food porn goes mainstream.
I knew this was a “thing” when our son kept sharing pictures of his dinner on Facebook. He seemed incapable of raising a knife or fork without first digitally immortalising his scran for all to share. This is all well and good, but there are only so many times you can message back with a thumbs-up and a “looks tasty! Smiley face” before it gets a bit wearing. He also has unfortunate timing, posting a pic of his latest culinary masterpiece just when teatime seems an eternity away.
This might give the wrong impression that he regularly stretches to haute cuisine on a student budget, but be assured that beans on toast merit the same treatment as chilli con carne (his latest piece de la resistance).
But here’s the rub. Much as I’m sure the chilli in question is a tasty little number, it’s not exactly the bonniest. In the absence of aroma and anticipation, it’s a tall order making some of our favourite dishes a photographic feast for the eye. Mince and tatties are never going to make it on to the catwalk of catering.
Domestic goddess Nigella Lawson agrees that this is a flaw and has kindly launched her own dedicated food photography app, saying that platforms such as Instagram “do food no favours”. The TV chef last week unveiled Foodim on her website and in a post on Instagram. Overnight, she gained more than 2600 followers and 3000 likes.
Created in partnership with her long-term photographer, the app offers filters and edit settings designed specially to make food look at its best. Free to download, it promises to “optimise your camera specifically to take fabulous photos of food”.
But here’s the really clever bit … when users sign up for an account, settings mean they are automatically following Nigella. Instant success on a plate for the queen of cuisine. It’s hardly surprising this smart cookie reportedly has a net worth of £15 million. Well, all that slaving over a hot stove has to be worth something.
Lawson said: “It has always been vexing to me that there is no dedicated food photography app, and so many of the filters and so on that are meant to be applied on general photography apps do food no favours. So, based on the principle that if something you want doesn’t exist, just go ahead and make it, I’ve been working to develop a food photography app.”
Looks like things are hotting up in the obsessive world of food photies … especially now that Nigella has raised the steaks.
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