LOVE ON A PLATE

MASTERCRAFTSMAN

- Sweta Baruah

What drew you specifically into food photography? Are you a ‘foodie’ yourself?

I am indeed a foodie and love to cook a lot. Food connects to me like nothing else. It is not just a product to shoot when it comes to photography, but also carries a lot of emotions and moments with it. I used to click a lot of photographs of food, right from the day I left home for college. Whenever I visited my hometown, I would take photographs on those cell phone VGA cameras, so that I could see them later upon going back to hostel. I am that kind of a guy who will first feed his camera lens and then feed himself. The kind of guy who climbs upon the chair after ordering food in a busy restaurant, shoot the amazing spread on the table, and not care about the awkward looks from people. Food styling and photography came a lot later and the reason I took food photographs was to remind me of the amazing food I had with these amazing people in that moment.

What constitutes your creative process?

Thousands of pictures. Hundreds of thousands. I may not eat the food, but I will photograph it for sure. Usually, I prepare myself half of the time in advance when I plan to shoot. The props, the backdrops, the composition and the light, the diffusers, the reflectors, the post-processing and all the supporting elements are mostly planned.

For the other half, I intentionally take impromptu photos to work out my creative skills and see how fast I can plan a frame and still make it look good. Food remains pretty for a very short time. You have to be mentally prepared and act quickly or remake it several times.

Who or what inspires you and where do you get your ideas for photoshoots?