These photographs comment on the social, visual and psychological aspects of food. I am involved in a photographic investigation of what food people eat, what those foods materially consist of, what they look like, and what statements foods make about our society. Of concern to me is what food actually looks like photographically and how it psychologically affects the viewer when isolated within its natural context.
My photographs of typical table settings of food outwardly evoke in the viewer either delight and acceptance or repulsion and rejection. The response that occurs depends on:
These images create a visual disturbance due to the closeness of the content visually thrust out at the viewer. At the same time, they function on a different level, demanding acceptance through the use of colors that are elementary and whimsical.
The concept of an object, which feels of home, and is found in the home, as being acceptable, identifies with the food manufacturer's notion that if the product is visually appealing, there should be no question of its edibility by the user. These forceful images veil this underlying social statement in the same way the manufacturer of food conceals its intended use in order to stress its visual qualities. It is this normally accepted emphasis on visual importance that I am examining in my photographic food.