History of Photography Fall 2019

One of my favorite aspects of Thanksgiving is the abundance of colors on the food tables (not table but tables). With the red picnic table spread, reds and greens from the vegetables, the browns of pie and brownies, in combination with the smells, Thanksgiving is a sensory overload. Some foods i devoured were my mom’s noodles, my aunt’s chicken curry, and lastly her pasta shells. The pasta shells are my favorite because they are the perfect snack while also being a great edition to any meal. Food photography is espcailly common on social media and with my sister being a foodie, i deal with food photopgrahy even at home. Any chance she gets to eat something aesthetically pleasing, she feels the need to send it to me and rub it in. In the article with William Eggleston and color photography, Abigail Cain mentions that Instagram has the become the most popular form of visual currency and this is greatly true because everyone feels compelled to post something that they view as beautiful, and this relates to Susan Sontag’s essay with trips being judged based on the quality of the pictures.

I like food photography on social media because social media arms people with the power to express themselves and their passions. Whether its cars, travel, or even food, anyone can share their interests with the world and connect with others whom have similar interests.

One of my favorite food combinations to eat during thanksgiving would have to be macaroni, lasagna, black rice and turkey. However, lasagna recently has been more of an off and on thing with my mom. She only cooks it if she feels like it which all gets me mad, but what can I do, she’s the one going out of her way to cook with the rest of the family members (I.E., my cousins & aunt who live next door, or the neighbors who lives on the 6th floor). A majority of the food photography that I see on social media annoys me for a simple and selfish reason; the food looks delicious and I usually want to eat it when I see it. In all honesty, i’m pretty gluttonous and have a fast metabolism so I just love to eat as much as I can within reason. However, I do enjoy and find that food photography is a positive occurrence because it teaches me all about the new types of food I had no idea even existed!

One of my favorite foods to eat over the holiday is candied yams. Sometimes my mom will cook it randomly during the year as well, but when thanksgiving comes around I always know I can look forward to eating some. I love the taste and how sweet they are, as well as how good they taste along with baked macaroni. I feel like food photography is really cool and can be very compelling; A lot of food photography usually makes me hungry and jealous that I don’t have the food I’m seeing! Making food look appetizing both in real life and in photos could be challenging I imagine, so I appreciate food photographers and the work they bring to Instagram and other mediums.

Thanksgiving Dinner

My family usually gets all together, theres many of us, which means that there has to be sufficient turkey for everyone, and we end up with a total of 3 turkeys. We all gather along with our plates all filled up. Personally my favorite combination is what the photo is showing, turkey, mashed potatoes and salad. Thanksgiving is a nice reunion to be with all the family and enjoying ourselves in the dinning room, talking and laughing, which is something to cherish and have a memory to go back to.

Apple Pie

For Thanksgiving, my family and I went to see our family that lived in New Jersey and we had lots of food. However, I didn’t take any photos of the food but a photo of the pie. I believe putting food on social media is beneficial to restaurants and consumers because it gives exposure. Consumers can look to go to a restaurant that they saw on social media and restaurants will almost always benefit from the extra customers.

Every year my family makes this special dish for thanksgiving. This dish in my family is called an antipasto platter. You can fill it with coldcuts, olives, breadsticks, and many different types of cheeses. This dish is mostly eaten in Italian families.  I would describe my opinion on food on social media to be very helpful because it shows new recipes others can use, and you also can get many new ideas from seeing the food on there. I am one of those people who is always taking pictures of my food and posting on social media because I think it looks good, and I feel like it would be eye-catching for others to see, and maybe they would want to try and go to the place I am at. It also helps others wanting to go to new restaurants, because going to the same places all of the time can get boring

HW#3

I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving but here is a meal I prepared for the day. Food photography is very helpful. I  think food photography is meant for indecisive individuals like myself who are always confused about what to eat. Scrolling through Instagram, I find a perfect meal to prepare.

So most of my Thanksgiving consisted of me being stuck at work and then rushing home to the dinner my mom prepared. After a tiring day at work I didn’t get the opportunity to take a pic of the food, but the previous night I was celebrating friends-giving and got a pic there of the amazing pies my best friend had made. I sadly spent most of my holiday weekend at work but I did get some precious time and lots of food with my immediate family, extended family and the wonderful friends who became family as well.