History of Photography Fall 2019

This Thanksgiving, like every other year, my family and I made the usual Pork Shoulder with Pigeon Pea Rice, Salad, and Fried Plantains. This is a very popular dish in the Dominican community and although I’m Mexican, I grew up more around Dominicans, and it is the reason I love this dish. I did not have the opportunity to get a picture of my actual dish, but the picture I am sharing represents exactly what was on my plate.

Food photography in my opinion is great. My industry is revolving on food and as a chef, I believe food photography can introduce one to different cultures and the way they present their foods. My Instagram consists of various food pages where they show things they have eaten or created, which gives me inspiration to go and create something of my own. Although it seems like an easy task to snap a picture of a dish, there its lots of things to keep in mind: attention to detail, color and presentation. I love seeing it all the time as much as I love doing it myself.

My favorite food to eat at Thanksgiving is always sweet potato with marshmallows, Its soft, warm and sweet and I always enjoy eating it every year during the holidays. It’s what I add the most on my plate, even when I’m full I always come back for seconds. What I think about food photography on the social media, Is that it is very annoying, especially when it is something basic. I use post pictures of my food only when you come to realize that nobody really cares about what you post. Only if it is something different than what you normally see, then maybe I may ask “where did you get that?”. Ultimately It’s a big “No” for me when it comes to food photography.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to take any pictures of my thanksgiving dinner but one example that I posted here of the food I ate was my grandmother’s baked mac and cheese, which is my all time favorite holiday dish. She always makes sure there’s a balance between the extra crispy crust and the warm, creamy mac and cheese inside. If I could I would’ve eaten the whole dish but sadly I couldn’t all at once. Other dishes we had ranged from rotisserie chicken, baked ziti, turkey, and chow mein to the classic apple and pumpkin pies. Moreover, my thoughts on food photography and it’s influence on social media is not so harsh in terms how creative and accessible it is for all to share with one another. Although there are times where taking a picture every single chance you get can be annoying to some, food photography can be seen as a beneficial output that showcases many different dishes and it’s unique taste.

During this year’s Thanksgiving dinner my family decided on eating hotpot.
Personally I love food photography. Especially over social media, food photography creates trends over the internet for places and foods to try out. I’m sure people have been inspired by the dishes they’ve seen over the internet. Photographs of foods will definitely help attract more customers to new or unheard of restaurants. It also helps give people ideas on new foods they would want to try that they have never heard of or even considered eating.

For this Thanksgiving coming up I will be enjoying one of my favorite dessert dish peach cobbler.  It is the perfect dessert besides cake of course to go with Thanksgiving dinner every year.  When it comes to food being posted on social media such as Instagram I feel that it is a really nice way for people to look for something new to eat.  Especially when you have people from different parts of the world posting photos of their food from their country gives you an international taste.  Along with the food post there could also be a recipe posted under the comments which of course can be helpful to whip something delicious up in the kitchen.

Photographer Greg Dupree, Prop Stylist Thom Driver, Food Stylist Rishon Hanners

For Thanksgiving, my family always make a huge spread. Our traditional meal consists of Macaroni and cheese, chicken, ham, yams, collard greens, rice and peas, potatoes, macaroni salad, potato salad, sweet potato pie and apple pie. I enjoy food photography on social media because I enjoy food. When I see photos of food on social media, it visually appeases me. It then makes me want to recreate that meal or go out and find where the meal is made.
 

This years Thanksgiving was mixed with my Bengali side and my American side. My family  including aunts, uncles and cousins, everyone was asked to bring something of their liking, it could’ve been anything cultural or American it didn’t matter. So the menu this Thanksgiving was different but very exciting because it was something new. We had noodles and pasta, tandoori chicken, beef, variety of rice(s), vegetables, fish and it was a good time with good people. I think food photography is great! food photography helps people find new food options they probably would have not figured out on their own or helping chefs find new ideas to cook. Food photography shows how many different types of food there is around the world, many people wouldn’t even assume, I feel as if food photography opens new opinions and also teaches others about other cultures for people and I think its a very nice and FAST way as well.