Tackling the Industry of Food by Feasting Through the Camera Lenses

As a part of the primary needs of mankind, food and its industry is something that will prolong its relevancy forever. And within the modern era, people would publicize foods that they made or they bought through the incorporation of documentation by pictures and distributes it by the mean of Mass Media and Social Media. As a result, the immortal industry of food would always need a field of capable figures in the terms of presenting the food, through the lenses of cameras. This ideology is what bred the new understanding of Food Photography. The constantly rising trend about cooking within these difficult times has raised the interest within home cooking and its publication. However, there are many people that finds it less appealing due to the lack of technical knowledge within this field. Therefore a talk – show hosted by BINUS International’s Communication Major with the help of Adha Togi as the speaker has been conducted.

Starting the talk – show with the short summary of the history of Food Photography, the audiences were also taught numerous aspects about how to make a food, as the object of the documentation, more presentable, generates the sense of temptation and appetite and creates emotional values. A certain basic techniques with the additional do and don’t information was also shared by the man that has been a Food Photographer for the past 12 years, such as:

• Utilizing natural lightning, which he reckoned would works best at 09.00 – 11.00 A.M.
• Angle such as eye level, which taking a picture with the positioning of the camera to be similar as our eyes, approximately 45 degrees above the food. Another one is the top angle, which is taking the picture of the food from the top 90 degrees
• Consider the styling through the options of props within the background of the food with the intentions of enriching the photograph but not overwhelming it
• Utilize the foodporn aspect: what can be done in order to engage more towards the food. For example is to cut a steak in order to reveal its juicy, slightly red middle part.

It was hoped that through the sharing delivered by Togi, the audiences has a better understanding towards how and why does people took photograph of a certain food. Furthermore, he emphasize that due to the relevancy of the industry, becoming a Food Photographer is an interesting prospect of career within the era in the future.

The love over culinary arts and photography has finally emerged as one solid form of interpretation. The trend has bred many interest within its eventuality. Togi concluded that within the process of consuming food, “we eat with our eyes first”. That’s why presentation of foods is such a critical aspect of a dish.

Contributor: Krisna Ananta Ong / Communications Binusian 2021

Editor: Dian Ayuria Sarwono