Homework #7: Instagram and the Art of Food Photography

Martin Parr, Untitled (Turkey and Lamp), 1994, from the British Food series

Martin Parr, Untitled (Turkey and Lamp), 1994, from the British Food series

Happy Thanksgiving! In our homework, we have considered how photographing food can be an art form. A recent article “Food instagrammers turn their accounts in professions” in the Wall Street Journal highlights how some people have turned their obsession with photographing food into real-world perks, like free meals or cash! Using social media outlets, like Instagram, these foodie entrepreneurs have turned their love of eating out into a viable marketing tool for the hospitality industry. Read the Wall Street Journal article and compare these amateur photos to food photographs by an art photographer like Martin Parr, who is a member of the esteemed photography cooperative Magnum Photos. Parr created a series dedicated “British Foods,” which includes the photograph of the turkey shown here. What do you think are some of the differences between food photography for marketing and food photography for art? Do you prefer one over the other?

Read the Wall Street Journal article here.

Look at Martin Parr’s series here.

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR POSTS BY MONDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2015. Same day Writing Assignment #2 is DUE (please make sure you choose one exhibition on the list, do not try to review the entire museum, rather pick one of the exhibitions to review)